Kidsgrove Athletic 1-1 Hednesford Town - Report

The teams met at Keys Park on the 23rd of August last year with Kidsgrove coming away with the points in a five-goal thriller.

There would be no repeat of the Keys Park game as a much more dour affair was played out. Jai Verma went close early on for the Pitmen while Kieran Boucher had a couple of easy saves to make. The home side dominated possession of the ball without creating clear cut chances, while Hednesford seemed content to sit back and defend during the first half. The deadlock was broken in the 32nd minute when Jake Lovatt headed home from a corner to give Kidsgrove Athletic the lead. The Pitmen did not have many chances to equalise and were lucky not to go further behind thanks to a double save from Boucher.

The Pitmen equalised in the 47th minute through Ritchie Sutton who bundled home a free kick taken by Jack Kelly at the far post. The game continued in the same stile as the first half with Kidsgrove dominating and possession and first to the majority of loose balls. Despite their dominance the hosts were unable to carve out many scoring chances and the Pitmen's goal remained intact during the second half. The Pitmen were forced to defend numerous Kidsgrove corners and freekicks but the defencestood up resolutely to the challenge. Right at the death the Pitmen had a golden opportunity to steal the points, however Demetri Brown dragged his shot wide and the game ended a draw.

Kidsgrove Athletic; Harrison, Bromfield, Morley, Malbon (Muir 88), Lovatt, Berlin, Knapper, Garlick (Cadeau 81), Lovatt (Cole 71), Woolley, Fawns. Subs not used Harrison, Holkham.

Hednesford Town; Boucher, Williams, Kelly, Thompson, Sutton, Endall, Verma, Ali, Boothe (Brown 78), Morley (Mellors-Blair 63), Gwilt (May 63). Subs not used, Niven,