The game ended in a stalemate although the opening stages promised some goal action. Jonny Edwards forced an early save from Billericay’s Sam Donkin, before Simeon Maye cleared a corner off the line for the Pitmen. Edwards played Akheem Rose in with a good through ball however the Pitmen forward shot well over the crossbar. A Pitmen freekick taken by Chris Hussey was fired over the bar by defender Ollie Harrison. Billericay hit the post from a corner before Dom McHale had a shot blocked for the home side. Deep into first half stoppage time a Billericay freekick was put for a corner which was eventually cleared by Ryan Wynter.
HT 0-0
A lengthy injury at the start of the first half to Ike Orji, saw the Billericay forward receive lengthy treatment on the pitch before he was able to carry on. In the 57th minute the Pitmen had a shout for a penalty when Edwards went down in the box however the claim was waved away by the referee. The best chance of the game came a few minutes later when an excellent cross from Jamie Morgan was headed towards goal by Dan Turner who saw his effort saved by Donkin. The Pitmen came closest to winning the game in the later stages when Joe Doyle-Charles had a good effort blocked, before McHale curled an effort just wide of the post. In a goalmouth scramble both McHale and Turner saw good efforts blocked by the Billericay defence who were not afraid to put their bodies on the line. Rose went down in the box but again no penalty was awarded. In the closing stages Doyle-Charles had a shot saved on the line, and Tony Breeden made a great acrobatic save from Jack Evans. Billericay withstood eleven minutes of added time, with Rose shooting wide from Morgan’s cross, to set up a replay in Essex on Tuesday night.
Hednesford Town; Breeden, Morgan, Maye (Labadie 80), Hussey, Harrison, Wynter (Johnson 46), Rose, Doyle-Charles, Edwards (Watson 65), McHale, Turner (Jervis 80). Subs not used; Trickett-Smith, Freeman, Brown.
Billericay Town; Donkin, Porter, Johnson, Davis, Scott, Nash (Oudnie-Morgan 89), Merrifield (Cerulli 85), Orji, Evans, Miller-Rodney, Jolliffe (Blackman 80). Subs not used; Abraham, Long, Panton, Okewoye.
Attendance 2016 including 113 away fans.
