After a difficult weekend on the road at Stocksbridge Park Steels last weekend, Hednesford headed to relegation strugglers Workington AFC hoping to maintain their push for automatic promotion. With league leaders FC United having a blank weekend, the Pitmen knew that a win would increase the pressure on their rivals heading towards their Easter Monday clash. With Omari Sterling-James on international duty Kelvin Davis altered the formation, with Dan Trickett-Smith and Jermaine Hylton returning to the starting line-up and George Williams not named in the squad on this occasion. Although Workington had been rooted to the foot of the table for the majority of the season after a poor start, the appointment of experienced football league coach Billy Barr in November had seen a dramatic upturn in their fortunes, with only one loss this calendar year and 5 wins in the last 8 games.
Hednesford started the game brightly, with Montel Gibson heading an early chance against the woodwork. However, this turned out to be the high spot in an ultimately disappointing afternoon for the Pitmen. Through spirit and hard-work, Workington began to impose themselves on the game, not allowing the visitors creative players time to settle on the ball. What the home side lacked in guile, they more than made up for in determination and as the pendulum began to swing, it was no surprise when Workington took the lead on 16 minutes through midfielder Jake Allan who rifled home a flick-on from a cross from deep on the Workington left. At 1-0 the Pitmen were still very much in the game, however, a collision between Joel Taylor and fellow full-back Jack Dickinson in the 27th minute resulted in both players having to leave the field. With no defensive cover to draw on, Joe Doyle-Charles was forced to drop into central defence, replaced in midfield by Simeon Maye. With an obdurate Workington defence holding the Pitmen at bay, Kelvin Davis would have hoped to reorganise his side at the half-time break. On 47 minutes however, all such plans were dashed. The Hednesford defence failed to clear a straight forward aerial ball into the edge of the penalty area and the ball fell to Swinglehurst to blast past Tony Breeden from 12-yards out.
H/T 2-0
The management team sent an unchanged line-up out for the second half with an opportunity to make amends. Unfortunately for the Pitmen however, the second half followed a similar pattern to the first. Despite the introduction of Jervis, McHale and latterly Turner to the fray, chances remained scant. Whilst Ahkeem Rose sent an acrobatic volley over the bar and Dom McHale curled a shot from distance narrowly wide, the Pitmen could not find a way to reduce the arrears. With Hednesford running out of ideas and perhaps losing a little shape in their search for consolation, they failed to track a run from deep by Workington substitute Keelan Leslie who broke free to shoot low past Breeden and complete a miserable afternoon for the Pitmen and their strong travelling support.
F/T 3-0
With Hebburn Town completing a 4-1 home victory to Lancaster City, Hednesford now find themselves in third place, three points off the top of the table and in a questionable run of form. With the next fortnight bringing two games against teams embroiled in the heat of a relegation battle along with a highly anticipated clash with fellow promotion hopefuls FC United, it remains to be seen whether the Pitmen can reignite their title challenge.
Attendance: 1081
Workington AFC: Mitchell, Casson, Dickinson (Leslie 24′), Whitehall, Little, Swinglehurst (Barnes 90+3′), Allan, Carroll (Stephen 46′), Tymon, Nugent (Symington 80′), Galloway (Hopper 84′).
Hednesford Town FC: Breeden, Morgan, Taylor (Maye 25′), Hussey, Harrison, Doyle-Charles, Trickett-Smith (McHale 55′), Kinsella, Gibson (Turner 80′), Rose, Hylton (Jervis). Unused subs: Tideswell.
