On Saturday 13th September it’s The Colemen versus The Pitmen when Hednesford Town travel to North Warwickshire where they will play Coleshill Town in the Second Qualifying Round of the Emirates FA Cup.
The men in charge at Pack Meadow need no introduction to The Pitmen faithful. Harry Harris managed Hednesford from 28th October 2023 to 17th February 2024 along with his assistant Steve Hinks and coach Gavin Allers. In the 16 league games they oversaw, they had four wins, five draws and seven defeats, scoring 18 goals and conceding 26 giving a 25% win rate. There are also several ex-Pitmen in the playing squad with Adam McGurk, Jack Hallahan, Joe Morley, Joe Fitzpatrick, Daniel Gyasi and Lucas Yeomans all having turned out for Hednesford along with Taylor Carter-Byrne and Tyreace Brown who had relatively shorter spells at Keys Park.
Hednesford have reached this stage of the competition by beating Basford 3-1 while Coleshill have already played three games, beating Nuneaton Town 2-1 at home in the Extra Preliminary Round and then winning 3-0 at Pershore in the Preliminary Round followed by another home win, 2-1 against Worcester Raiders in the First Qualifying Round. The attendances for the two home games were 410 versus Nuneaton and 153 against Worcester. Coleshill’s best FA Cup run came in 2015/16 when they reached the Third Qualifying Round, losing 0-9 at AFC Fylde.
On Tuesday Hednesford moved up to third place in the NPL Premier table courtesy of a dramatic late 2-1 win over Ilkeston while 24 hours earlier Coleshill had beaten Loughborough Students 3-2 to move up to 15th with seven points from six games although following Wednesday’s games The Pitmen dropped to fourth and The Colemen moved up to 14th. This was Coleshill’s first home league game win of the season, their other two games ending in defeats, 1-2 against Racing Club Warwick and 1-3 versus St Neots. Their away form is slightly better with a 1-0 win at Bourne accompanied by a 1-1 draw at Coventry Sphinx, their only defeat coming in a 1-3 reversal at Boldmere St Michaels. Their leading scorers in all competitions are Dan Gyasi with three goals and Dan Brookes, Harry Sweeney, Alex McSkeane and Theo Rowe who have two each.
Ahead of the upcoming fixture, Team Manager, Gavin Hurren, said: “We’ll prepare properly like we do for every game, with a clear plan and the focus to work hard from the first whistle. Coleshill will make it a tough tie, and we’re hoping to see plenty of travelling support to get behind the lads.”
Coleshill Town play at Pack Meadow, Packington Lane, Coleshill, Birmingham B46 3JE where they have played since 1974, installing a 3G surface in 2015. The ground has a capacity of 2,070 with their record attendance being 1,755 against South Shields in the semi-final first leg of the 2016/17 FA Vase. There is a small amount of parking available, limited to 50 spaces, primarily for players and officials with a charge of £2 for supporters on a first come, first serve basis. Street parking on Packington Lane is the most common alternative. Admission is £12 adults, £9 concessions (over 65), £3 U16s and free for U12s. Tickets can be purchased online or at the turnstiles. Kick off is 3pm and if a replay is required it will be at Keys Park on Tuesday 16th September at 7.45pm.
