Hednesford Town faced Lye Town in the Birmingham Senior Cup Quarter-Final at Keys Park in a reversed fixture which was originally drawn as a home game for Lye. Pitmen manager Kelvin Davis named a much-changed line-up to the side that beat Lancaster City 3-0 in the league, handing a debut in defence to new loan signing Aiden Walker as well as including scholars Anthony Simkiss and Lennon Brown.
The Pitmen started the game strongly and looked the most likely team to open the scoring, with Dan Trickett-Smith delivering a dangerous freekick which the Lye defence was able to scramble away. A foul on Jermaine Hylton provided another freekick, this time taken short to Dom McHale who whipped in a cross that evaded everyone and went out for a goal kick. The deadlock was unsurprisingly broken in the 19th minute when Dan Turner worked his way through the Lye defence sending a shot past Gael Mfuamba. Two minutes later Lye moved the ball down the flank, crossing the ball into the area where Luke Sidaway was on hand to produce an equaliser against the run of play. The goals kept coming in the first half when Hylton put in a cross which Niall Watson tucked away at the far post to regain the lead for the Pitmen. Again, Lye were able to find an unlikely equaliser when some indecisive defending allowed another cross to arrive in the box which was finished by Sidaway with a header from close range. Hylton went on a determined run in the 38th minute and got a shot away which was well saved by Mfuamba. Another freekick from Trickett-Smith was delivered to the far post finding Turner whose header was saved by Mfuamba to keep the score level at the break.
HT 2-2
Hylton continued to be a threat at the start of the second half, narrowly shooting wide in the 48th minute. The Pitmen regained the lead in the 56th minute when Hylton was on hand to tuck away a rebound when Mfuamba was only able to parry away a shot. A triple substitution from the Pitmen gave fresh impetus to the game when Jake Jervis, Jamie Morgan and Joel Taylor entered the fray. Jervis played a wonderful pass to play in Watson who shot wide of the mark. Jervis went one better in the 77th minute pouncing on a defensive error by Lye and drilling a low shot into the back of the net. The Pitmen continued to show their class in the second half controlling the game and looking likely to add to the scoreline. It took until the 93rd minute, deep into stoppage time, for Jervis to latch onto a cross from the left flank and tap home to claim his second goal of the night and claim a Semi-Final place for the Pitmen.
Hednesford Town; Parke, Walker, Johnson, Maye, Simkiss (Morgan 61), Doyle-Charles (Brown 83), Turner (Jervis 61), Trickett-Smith, Watson, McHale (Taylor 61), Hylton (Sterling-James 72).
Lye Town; Mfuamba, Ball, Edwards, Dixon (Tozer 62), Cartwright, Collins, Steward (Mills 77), McKenna (Garner 67), Sidaway, Smith, Didlock. Subs not used; Hewitt, Handley
Attendance 709
