Third placed Hednesford Town hosted 19th placed Prescot Cables at Keys Park as they looked to build momentum going into their clash against FC United of Manchester on Monday.
The opening 20 minutes left much to be desired from both sides as neither took control when in possession. In the 21st minute, both sides had a contentious penalty call waved away from the officials as the visitors believed the ball had struck the arm of Joss Labadie as he diverted a cross away from the near post following a corner. Moments later, the Pitmen looked to counter as Montel Gibson lofted a ball towards Ahkeem Rose who looked to be pulled down; though his complaints came to no avail. Hednesford Town proceeded to push the Prescot defence as Chris Hussey drove infield before playing a pass down the left hand side towards Jermaine Hylton; who beat his man before delivering a low cross which Gibson dispatched into the bottom right hand corner, putting the Pitmen in control with their first shot on goal in the 24th minute. The Cables’ misery looked to compile as Charley Doyle tugged Rose back resulting in a yellow card and a set piece opportunity for the hosts. Liam Kinsella looked to make the most of this as he caught the Prescot defence off-guard; slipping a ball through to an unmarked Montel Gibson, who was brought down by James Pradic. However, Pradic would atone for his error as he made a fantastic save down to his right hand side from Gibson’s resulting penalty; preventing the Pitmen from grabbing a second in the opening half. In the 44th minute, Kelvin Davis would need to turn to his bench as top scorer Ahkeem Rose would need to be withdrawn due to injury; with Jake Jervis taking his place bringing an end to the first half.
HT: 1-0
As the second half opened, The Pitmen remained in control as Omari Sterling-James let fly from distance in the 53rd minute; though it whistled over the crossbar. However, the Pitmen would cement their dominance mere minutes later as Sterling-James played a 1-2 with Chris Hussey from a corner and released a beautiful curled strike from the edge of the area; nestling in the top corner and doubling the home side’s advantage. Debatably, Prescot’s best opportunity came in the 70th minute through another contentious penalty call as Cables believed Jamie Morgan had pulled back John Murphy as he looked to meet a cross at the back post. Minutes later, the match went from bad to worse for the visitors as Remi Efunnuga was sent off for a high boot which met the chest of Liam Kinsella just minutes after being brought on. The Pitmen extended their advantage in the 83rd minute as Hussey whipped in a dead ball onto the head of Ollie Harrison and despite the best efforts of Pradic, Jake Jervis hammered home the rebound to cement a Good Friday for the hosts.
FT: 3-0
Following the match, the Pitmen Manager Kelvin Davis described his side’s second half performance as “controlled and professional” and stated that: “We said at half time that we can’t afford to lift our foot of the accelerator, we need to get the next goal.”
Hednesford Town; Breeden, Morgan, Hussey, Kinsella (Trickett-Smith 82), Harrison, Labadie (Maye 71), Rose (Jervis 44), Doyle-Charles, Gibson (Watson 82), Sterling-James (Mchale 71), Hylton
Prescot Cables; Pradic, Devine (Scully 45), Waters, Clarke, McNally, Doyle (Smith 66), Goodwin, Foley, Murphy (Glennon 75), Donaldson (Efunnuga 66), Deans. Sub not used; Seary
Attendance – 1896
