Hednesford Town secure play-off berth
A scintillating second-half performance from Hednesford Town ensured a place in the Skrill North top five and with it a shot at promotion through the end of season play-offs.
It took them an hour to get off the mark, and two goals in the dying minutes sealed their 4-0 victory over Worcester City, writes Scott Smith.
Hednesford went into the game knowing that they needed just one more point in order to secure a top-five finish.
The start of the game saw plenty of ball possession without either side really testing their respective opposing goalkeepers.
In fact the closest either side came to opening the scoring came in the 21st minute when a long Worcester throw into the box was flicked just over his own bar by Town's Ben Bailey.
Two minutes later a long throw from Bailey caused confusion in the City ranks, but despite the ball falling into open space in the six-yard box no-one was able to get on the end of it and the chance was gone.
In a pretty forgettable first half the only other action of note came when Dan Crane had to react quickly to a short back header from John Disney to deny Ethan Moore a chance.
Seven minutes into the second period, Hednesford created their first real chance when Dave Macpherson won possession and fed Marvin Johnson who saw his low driven cross just taken off Danny Glover's toe for a corner.
On the hour mark, Town finally managed to make the breakthrough when the ball sat up perfectly for Macpherson to strike a superb dipping effort from 30 yards with his left foot off the underside of the bar for one of the goals of the season.
This really lifted Hednesford's game and with 13 minutes remaining they made it 2-0. A long throw into the penalty area was flicked on and Wayne Riley was able to nod home at the back post from five yards out.
As the game ticked towards full-time, Hednesford were able to extend their lead from the penalty spot as substitute Paul Sullivan was brought down inside the box.
John Disney kept his composure from 12 yards in order to send goalkeeper Leigh Bedwell the wrong way to make it 3-0 in the 89th minute.
Just a minute later Town added a final flourish when Sullivan broke the offside trap and he kept his calm to round Bedwell and slot home into an empty net to complete an emphatic victory for the Keys Park outfit.
The Pitmen are likely to face Altrincham or North Ferriby United in the play-offs.
