Hednesford Town fans will get the chance for their first look at the new Keys Park state of the art hybrid pitch on Tuesday 12th August when The Pitmen entertain Warrington Town in the second game of the Northern Premier League Premier Division season.
Warrington find themselves back at step 3 after suffering relegation from the National League North last season, finishing in 23rd place with 31 points from 46 games, some 20 points from safety. However, Manager Paul Carden who rejoined The Wire for a second spell in charge in September 2024 from Nantwich Town has started to rebuild his squad signing defenders Scott Butler and Matty Waters from Marine along with James Melhado and Troy Bourne from Nantwich. Reece Daly has joined from Chester and midfielder Matthew Tweedy from Port Vale while another recruit from Marine is striker Kallan Murphy. Former Accrington Stanley keeper Liam Isherwood replaces Dan Atherton who has gone to FC United of Manchester and winger Dontai Gabbidon has arrived on loan from Macclesfield. Midfielder David Morgan has linked up with Carden after playing for him at Southport and will double up as player/assistant manager while defender Jack Doyle joins from the same club.
In preseason Warrington lost 0-2 at Buxton, 1-3 at Vauxhall Motors, 0-3 against both Southport and Altrincham at home but won 1-0 at Maghull, 4-0 at home to City of Liverpool and 1-0 against Chorley thanks to a goal from ex-Pitman Bohan Dixon who is approaching 250 games for the club. In their opening league game at home to Cleethorpes Town on Saturday Warrington picked up a point in a goal-less draw, a game described as “a tough opening day” by Manager Paul Carden.
Hednesford opened their league season with a 280 mile trip to Hebburn in the North east and came back with three points thanks to Dom McHale’s 50th minute goal which proved to be the only one of the game. McHale was yellow carded in the first half for simulation and was joined in the referee’s notebook by Kieron Freeman and Jamie Morgan.
Ahead of the game Hednesford Town manager Gavin Hurren said; “After getting three points at Hebburn, we want to build on that, but we know Warrington will be a tough side to break down. They’ve got plenty of experience in their squad and will be eager to respond after last season, so we’ll need to be at our best. We’re looking forward to getting out there on the new surface for our first home game of the campaign in front of our supporters.”
Kick off on Tuesday night will be at 7.45pm with admission being £13 adults, £10 concessions, 17-18 and disabled (non-wheelchair access), £5 U16s and free for U10s but all U16s must be accompanied by a paying adult. Supporters are advised to use the Fanbase app to purchase tickets. Cash and card payments can be made at the ticket office prior to 7.30pm. View more information for matchday here.
