Burton Albion were the visitors to Keys Park in the third round of the Birmingham Senior Cup. The Pitmen fielded a strong side for the encounter and certainly got off to the better start of the two sides, an early Chris Hussey freekick was flicked on and caused problems in the Burton box before being gathered in by goalkeeper Kamil Dudek. On his home debut Omari Sterling-James saw a shot blocked before another Pitmen freekick, taken by Tony Breeden, unsettled the visiting defence as Ollie Harrison attacked the ball before the Burton defence were able to scramble the ball away. Sterling-James was in the action again, winning a freekick on the edge of the Burton box, taking the set piece himself, the Pitmen forward struck the defensive wall, Hussey was first to the rebound delivering a cross which Montel Gibson headed narrowly over. Before the break Max Sheaf put a dangerous looking cross into the area, however Gibson was adjudged to be marginally offside.
HT 0-0
At the start of the second half a good combination between Hussey and Gibson set up Sheaf who fired the ball over the crossbar as the Pitmen continued to threaten the visitor’s goal. A freekick, taken by Hussey, was drilled into Burton’s wall before being cleared. Jamie Morgan was the next home player to go close to scoring when he got on the end of a cross to the far post and forced a good save from Dudek. Dan Trickett-Smith went close with a freekick, narrowly putting the ball over the bar. The deadlock was broken in the 63rd minute when Gibson headed home from close range to give the Pitmen a deserved lead. Five minutes later Gibson doubled Hednesford’s lead with a tap-in from substitute Dan Turner’s cross following an excellent flowing move by the Pitmen. Hednesford looked to stretch their lead further as they controlled the game, Turner forced a save from Dudek and the subsequent corner was played short to Dom McHale who delivered the ball to the far post which was cleared by the Burton defence. Deep into stoppage time a rare slip-up in the Pitmen defence allowed Jamal Williamson to break through and score a consolation goal for the visitors.
Hednesford Town; Breeden, Morgan (Taylor 69), Hussey, Maye, Harrison, Wynter, Watson (Turner 59), Sheaf (Labadie 70), Gibson (Rose 72), Sterling-James (McHale 70), Trickett-Smith.
Burton Albion; Dudek, Henry (Oyemade 91), Matthews, Thistleton, Hetheridge (Hyde 71), Gilbert (Knowles 91), Piper, Taroni, Williamson, Newall, Scutt. Subs not used; Everitt, Tootell.
Attendance; 855
