Hednesford Town ground out a narrow victory at Keys Park against a resilient Leek Town. Montel Gibson shot over the bar early on for the Pitmen before he saw an overhead kick go narrowly wide of the post. Following a foul by Ryan Wynter, for which the Pitmen defender was booked, Leek replied with a freekick from Lucas Weir which was saved by Tony Breeden. Omari Sterling-James had a good effort saved by Dino Visser before the Pitmen broke the deadlock a couple of minutes later. Joel Taylor did well to win a corner for the Pitmen, which Chris Hussey delivered to the far post where, man of the match, Ollie Harrison was on hand to head home in the 27th minute. Leek replied with a deflected shot from Weir, the subsequent corner was headed over the bar for a goal kick. A shot came in from Leek in the 42nd minute, however Harrison was alert to the danger, blocking the effort behind for a corner, which was headed clear by Hussey.
HT 1-0
The second half was an even affair with both sides creating a few chances. A Breeden freekick found Sterling-James who forced a great save from Dino Visser, before Harrison had to head clear an inviting Leek freekick that was whipped into the area. Visser made another good save from Sterling-James as the Pitmen sought to double their lead. Another Pitmen freekick from Hussey found Sterling-James who shot just wide before Gibson cleverly lobbed the ball over Visser only to see it land on the roof of the net. Dan Turner went close for the Pitmen late on forcing a save from Visser. In the closing minutes Leek had a shout for a penalty, however the referee declined the request and booked Weir for simulation. The Pitmen held on, during six minutes of added time, for an important win that kept them in second place in the league table.
Hednesford Town; Breeden, Morgan, Taylor, Hussey, Harrison, Wynter, Sheaf (Trickett-Smith 76), Kinsella, Gibson, Sterling-James, Rose (Turner 67). Subs not used; Parke, Watson, Labadie.
Leek Town; Visser, Buckley (Stafford 75), Curl, Meadowcroft, Edwards, Reeves, Hurst (Campbell 87), Shenton (Porter 77), Heath, Owolabi (Lake 90), Wier. Sub not used; Dickinson
Attendance 1680
