On Saturday 12th April Hednesford Town play their latest Northern Premier League West game when they travel to the north of the county to take on Kidsgrove Athletic. Both teams are in need of the points but for different reasons, Hednesford in their pursuit of league leaders Widnes and Kidsgrove in their attempt to put some space between themselves and the bottom four.
Hednesford’s win at Wythenshawe Town last Saturday was their 12th on the road in the league this season to go with three draws and just four defeats, their points total of 39 being the best of any team in the division on their travels. The majority of Kidsgrove’s points have come at home from eight wins, three draws and eight defeats which gives them 27 points compared to just 18 away from home. That total of 45 points sees them in 18th place, two above the drop zone after last week’s 1-1 draw at Trafford while Hednesford moved back up to second, their 72 points putting them five behind Widnes and one ahead of Vauxhall Motors and Congleton Town.
Saturday’s game will be the third between the teams this season. Hednesford put Kidsgrove out of the Staffordshire Senior Cup in January, winning 4-3 on penalties after the game ended 2-2. In the third league game of the season, 10 man Kidsgrove had won 2-1 at Keys Park. A crowd of 1,071 watched Rob Stevenson give The Pitmen a fourth minute lead but two goals from Kingsley Adu-Gyamfi gave the visitors all three points despite Matt Rhead’s red card. Adu-Gyamfi is the Grove’s leading scorer this season with 12 league goals and five in the cup competitions.
Matthew Barnes-Homer, Jacob Gwilt, Zidan Sutherland and Kory Roberts all got some minutes in the Development team’s 6-2 win over Solihull Youth Academy on Tuesday night, Barnes-Homer and Sutherland both scoring, while Simeon Maye will be available after suspension. Dom McHale is fit after missing last week’s game but Ahkeem Rose faces a late fitness test for a game where a win for The Pitmen would guarantee them a Play-Off place.
Kidsgrove Athletic play at the Autonet Insurance Stadium, Hollinwood Road, Kidsgrove, Stoke-on-Trent ST17 1DQ which has a capacity of 2,000. Their average crowd this season is 289 and their highest attendances are 724 against Congleton Town on New Year’s Day and 507 v Stafford Rangers. Admission is £10 adults, £6 concessions, £2 U16s and free for U12s, cash or card at the turnstiles with kick off at 3pm.
On Sunday 13th April Hednesford Town Ladies are at home to Tamworth in a league game. Kick off will be at 2pm with admission at £3 adults and £1 concessions and they have an away game at Eccleshall on Wednesday 16th April.
