First placed Widnes were the visitors to Keys Park, as promotion chasing Hednesford Town looked to overhaul the points gap between the two teams.
The Pitmen were full of attacking intent as they chased the result from early on, Jack Bearne had a shout for a penalty after five minutes while a strong run from Dominic McHale created a half chance for the home side. Bearne won a corner which was taken by Chirs Hussey, Ollie Harrison flicked on the corner and Akheem Rose saw his effort cleared off the line. Two minutes later Bearne shot wide after a great ball from McHale played him in. McHale went close again with a terrific run and shot before Dan Trickett-Smith forced a save from Mark Halstead. One minute into added time at the end of the first half, McHale latched onto a through ball from Bearne and struck the upright with a ferocious shot.
HT 0-0
Most of the attacking came from the home side in the second half as they began with a series of corners and dangerous crosses into the box, however the Widnes defence continued to hold strong and frustrate the Pitmen. Trickett-Smith went close at the near post from a cross forcing another save from Halstead, however the offside flag went up. Tony Breeden made a solid save at the other end and used his excellent distribution to set McHale on a goal bound run which only ended with a timely tackle in the box from a Widnes defender. In the 74th minute Halstead made a tremendous finger-tipped save from Nathan Blissett’s header as the Pitmen tried to grind out a winning goal. Substitute Jake Jervis squared the ball for Trickett-Smith who fired his attempt over the bar. The last chance fell to Joel Taylor deep into stoppage time at the far post when a long throw was flicked on by Harrison, forcing a goal line clearance from the Widnes defence. The points were ultimately shared after a game where most of the attacking came from the home side, while it appeared the visitors were happy to hang on for a draw.
Hednesford Town; Breeden, Morgan, Johnson, Maye (Taylor 80), Harrison, Hussey, Bearne (Jervis 71), Doyle-Charles, Rose (Blissett 59), McHale (Sutherland 89), Trickett-Smith. Subs not used; Brown.
Widnes; Halstead, Bird, Rain, Cooper, Byrne, Isherwood, Irwin, Williams (Rydel 86), Steele (McGowan 80), McGiveron (McGee 66), Deans. Subs not used; Holland-Wilkinson, Peterson.
Attendance 1148
