Hednesford Town 0 Curzon Ashton 3
Hednesford Town slumped to defeat in front of their own supporters after three second-half goals from Curzon Ashton.
The dismissal of Town striker Kyle Perry in the process made it a forgettable afternoon for the Pitmen.
After a morale-boosting victory in midweek over AFC Telford United, Frank Sinclair's side came into the game buoyant.
They were looking to record back-to-back league victories for only the second time this season as they also aimed to pull themselves further clear of relegation trouble.
The home side started very much on the front foot and should have been ahead inside two minutes.
Striker Ahmed Obeng raced clear but failed to finish on two occasions, with his first effort being saved by Curzon goalkeeper Hakan Burton before putting the follow-up wide.
Hednesford shot-stopper Dan Crane then had to make a smart save low down from Alex Brown in the eighth minute.
Town winger Adam Thomas then couldn't get on the end of a whipped ball in from Shelton Payne.
Crane was then called into action again, this time to deny Mike Norton from close range as the visitors started to cause more problems as the half progressed.
In truth there was little to talk about from the first period, although the Pitmen should really have gone in ahead.
Jack Fitzwater headed Sean Williams' free-kick wide of the upright on the stroke of half-time.
After building up some pressure at the start of the second-half, it would be the visitors who would strike first.
Hednesford failed to clear their lines from a corner and Niall Cummins prodded home from six yards after finding room inside the box.
Four minutes later things went from bad to worse for the home side as they were reduced to 10 men.
After winning a free-kick in the middle of the park Perry tussled to get the ball back from the opposing player, but the match referee determined this to be violent conduct and dismissed the striker.
This put the Pitmen even further up against it and, although there was a scramble inside the Curzon box on two occasions, Burton wasn't called into making a serious save.
The visitors killed off any hope of a comeback in the 80th minute when Cummins grabbed his second, with an overhead kick from close range after a corner ball picked him out.
The home side's agony was compounded in stoppage time, when substitute striker Dan Cockerline raced clear to score from the edge of the box on his debut.
Hednesford's next match is away to Stockport County in the National League North on Saturday.
