Hednesford Town 1 Buxton 2 - Report

It was the Pitmen who started the game very much on the front foot and they would take the lead in the eighth minute as Ben Bailey was able to fire the ball into the net for his second goal of the season after a corner into the opposition box wasn’t cleared.

Just sixty seconds later the visitors almost drew themselves level when Brad Grayson fired in a freekick that went just over the bar.

Buxton would equalise though in the 22nd minute, although not without controversy, as Pitmen goalkeeper James Wren claimed he was impeded from a corner leaving Jack Broadhead with the chance to level the scores.

Two minutes later Wren was forced into a smart save from Anthony Wilson before Buxton’s Jude Oyibo was denied ten minutes before the interval after a neat move by the visitors.

Five minutes before the break the Pitmen’s Joey Butlin had a great chance to put his side back ahead only to see his shot blocked.

The visitors would edge ahead in the 56th minute when Wilson broke the offside trap, despite appeals from the home side, and although his initial effort was saved the follow up found its way back to the striker who finished into the net.

In the 68th minute Buxton should really have extended the lead – only for Liam Hardy to see his effort hit the post. This almost proved costly as two minutes later James Lawrie saw a shot cleared off the line as the Pitmen pressed for an equaliser.

The final ten minutes of the game saw Town pushing hard on the visitors backline – however their task to gain a second goal wasn’t helped in stoppage time when Bailey was sent off for an off the ball incident, with the fulltime whistle sounding soon afterwards.

Attendance: 277