Hednesford Town 1-2 Hanley Town - Report
NPL West League action continued at Keys Park as the Pitmen faced Hanley Town. Both teams were in midweek action with Hednesford going down 3-2 at Witton Albion on Tuesday while 24 hours later Hanley picked up their first three point haul with a win at Widnes. The win moved Hanley out of the bottom two and they currently sit in 18th place with four points from their five league games, just a point behind The Pitmen in 16th prior to kick off.
The visitors were awarded a penalty in the 7th minute when a Hanley forward went down in the box. Pitmen keeper Jack Richards made a tremendous save from Saul Shotton's spot kick. Ethan Stanton was booked for Hanley for a foul on player manager Danny Glover. Jacob Gwilt 's freekick went into the wall with the rebound falling kindly for Jack Kelly who forced a sharp save from Tommy Jackson. The half turned scrappy as neither side were able to make an impact in the final third of the pitch. The deadlock was broken in the 43rd minute when Pitmen defender headed the ball past Richards to give the visitors a half time lead.
A double substitution from the Pitmen at half time saw Joe Morley and debutant Joe Thompson enter the fray. The second half was only two minutes old when some quality build up play from the Pitmen broke down the Hanley defence, allowing Desean Martin to fire home an equaliser with a thunderbolt strike. The Pitmen began to dominate play following the goal and continued to trouble the visiting defence with a series of corners. The game reverted to the scrappy affair of the first half before the Pitmen built up a head of steam in the closing stages.
Substitute Reinaldo Forbes forced another good save from Jackson, while Jez Abbey went close to scoring with a freekick that went inches wide of the post. As the game went into added time the Pitmen once again shot themselves in the foot when Jack Kelly hooked a clearance into the net to give the visitors an unlikely win.
Hednesford Town; Richards, Williams, Kelly, Paddock (Thompson 46), Mendez-Jones, Griffiths, Gwilt (Morley 46), Martin, Glover (Forbes 80), Mardenborough, Abbey. Subs not used; Mayemba, Crane.
Hanley Town; Jackson, Green, Walford (Morris 76), Stanton, Abbey, Stair, Walsh, Blake (Sanders 62), Brown, Shotton, Jones (Baker 76). Subs not used Dodds, Grimley
Attendance 547
