Hednesford Town 1 Wolves Under-21s 0
All eyes were on Wolves' banished first-teamers but it was Hednesford Town who proved the stars of the show.
The Pitmen won over the expectant Keys Park crowd with a performance full of grit and determination tonight.
Kevin Doyle, Tongo Doumbia and, playing his first game since weekend tabloid allegations surrounding his private life, Jamie O'Hara all featured for Wolves.
Despite O'Hara and Doumbia looking a class above, at times, it was former Brackley Town striker Steve Diggin who hogged the limelight in a frantic opening 15 minutes.
He first advanced down the right and superbly chipped helpless goalkeeper Jon Flatt from the edge of the area to open the scoring 11 minutes in and then, just 90 seconds later, was felled by Doumbia in the penalty area.
Diggin picked himself up but sent a weak penalty to Flatt's left, who easily got down to save the spot-kick and prevent the hosts taking a shock 2-0 lead.
To Hednesford's credit, they showed superb application in preventing O'Hara from influencing the game too much.
After Alex Melbourne strongly won a tackle in the middle of the park, Marvin Robinson raced clear only to shoot straight at Flatt.
Just past the half hour mark, with Wolves playing themselves into the game, Jim Kellermann blazed over after a short free kick.
Jamie Ashmore, once again impressive at right wing-back for the home side, forced Flatt into an acrobatic save from a deep cross.
Robinson headed straight at the keeper from a Ben Bailey long throw, before Glenn Walker and Jamie Ashmore combined down the right for Robinson to force the goalkeeper into another smart save.
Bradley Reid headed wide, after capitalising on sloppy Hednesford defending just before the break.
As the second-half became disjointed by substitutions, neither side looked too likely to score another goal, Hednesford holding on for a satisfying victory.
