Hednesford's fate on the line as play-offs loom

Now all eyes are on the play-off semi-finals with the Pitmen hosting Altrincham at Keys Park on Wednesday (7.45pm) before the return on Saturday.

With a play-off place already confirmed, Town manager Rob Smith decided to make a number of changes.

A solitary strike from Barrow's Sam Sheridan would ultimately prove the difference, although whether the ball crossed the line was a major talking point.

Town started the better of the two sides and perhaps should have gone ahead in the second minute when Charlie Anagho-Ntamark found room on the edge of the box only to drag his effort wide.

Three minutes later Kris Taylor's quick-thinking created a shot on target for Hednesford. His swiftly-taken free-kick from 25 yards forced keeper Tony McMillan to tip over for a corner.

Despite this good start, it was Barrow who edged ahead in the 21st minute. Following a good save from debutant Town goalkeeper Dale Reaney the ball was only cleared as far as Sheridan who unleashed a thunderous shot from 30 yards which hit the underside the bar and bounced down and seemingly away. However the assistant referee deemed the ball had crossed the line, much to the dismay of Hednesford's players.

Town almost responded immediately, though, when Michael Lennon slotted home under the advancing McMillan just 60 seconds later, but his effort was ruled out for offside.

In the 33rd minute Barrow had a chance to make it 2-0 when Alex-Ray Harvey was through on goal but he blasted his effort over the bar. Meanwhile at the other end Town had two half chances as Taylor saw a free-kick easily saved before Paul McCone had a header turned away.

The second half saw both sides having plenty of possession but doing little with it in truth. The closest Hednesford came was when Anagho-Ntamark headed wide when inside the penalty area. At the other end Sheridan saw a low driven effort strike Gareth Arnison and comfortably bounce up into the arms of Reaney, as both sides produced little in the way of goalmouth action.

As the game entered the final 10 minutes and with Guiseley winning 3-1, Hednesford knew that they couldn't afford to concede a second if they wanted to claim fourth place and although Reaney had a low save to make in the final minute the home side didn't really threaten in the final stages.