A game of two halves saw Hednesford Town fight back brilliantly to grab a 2-2 draw at Keys Park against the PFA XI.
Goals from John Marquis and Kane Hemmings gave the Pitmen a mountain to climb going into the second period, but goals from Trialist A and a spot kick from Akheem Rose ensured the scores finished level.
Team News:
Boss Kelvin Davis’ made a raft of changes.
St Kitts and Nevis international Xander Parke came in for Sam Hornby.
Lining up in a 3-5-2, Niall Maher was the only centre half to maintain his place in the starting eleven as Trialist B and Ben Lomax replaced Aaron Hayden and Aaron Harper-Bailey.
Lenni Cirino kept his place in the side as scholar Finn Teesdale was selected over Dylan Mottley-Henry.
In central midfield, the Pitmen were captained by Dale Gorman, with Sonny Sharples and Jai Curran-Nicholls playing just ahead of the skipper as Kinsella and Omari Sterling-James dropped to the bench.
The Town’s attack was sprear-headed by Dan Turner partnering Trialist A in place of Akheem Rose and Jamie Cooke.
Report:
The visitors took no time to get started, breaking the deadlock with four minutes gone.
Former Shrewsbury Town striker John Marquis grabbed his first for the evening; tapping home a square ball from Kane Hemmings.
Straight from the kick off, Hemmings, capitalising on an unfortunate miscued clearance from goalkeeper Xander Parke.
Looking to halve the deficit, Dan Turner narrowly headed over the bar, meeting a cross from Finn Teesdale.
Despite chances drying up, the hosts were dealt another blow.
Ben Lomax was forced off following an innocuous roll of the ankle, with the 20-year-old being replaced by Aaron Harper-Bailey after 37 minutes.
Early in the second half, a more positive start from the hosts saw them find their first shot on goal.
Following a driving run from Cirino which led to him being upended, the former Gillingham wing-back lifted a cross onto the head of Dylan Mottley-Henry as his header fell comfortably into the grasp of Boyce-Clark.
The Pitmen pressure continued – and paid dividends.
A poor backpass from James Scott allowed Trialist A to slide in on the goalkeeper and smash the ball into an empty net.
With the mood at Keys Park lifted, the hosts made a flurry of changes and they almost came off straight away.
Omari Sterling-James, having just come off the bench, forced a strong stop from Boyce-Clarke from the edge of the area, with momentum building for the hosts.
The one way traffic continued with the replacements making all the difference.
Akheem Rose drove into space before letting fly, with his effort falling down the throat of Boyce-Clark.
Entering the final quarter, Jamie Cooke could’ve put the Pitmen back on levelled terms as he miscued an acrobatic attempt from 10 yards out.
After 30 minutes of sustained pressure, Mottley-Henry was shown inside by Shane Ferguson and just before he was able to get his shot off, the latter took him down for a spot kick.
Rose hammered the ball down the middle off the goal putting Hednesford on level terms going into the last 20 minutes.
Moments later, the hosts almost grabbed a third in quick succession.
A fantastic long ball from Sterling-James found Cooke and with just Boyce-Clarke to beat, the former Reading shot stopper stood tall.
The Pitmen did not let off from there though.
Substitutes Cooke and Sterling-James linked up before the latter stung the palms of Boyce-Clarke once more.
With only five minutes remaining, Hednesford were inches away from their third.
A driven cross from Mottley-Henry found the head of Sterling-James with his header just fractions away from dropping into the far corner.
Into the last minute, The Pitmen side almost snatched the result.
Cooke struck a fierce drive down to the left hand side of Boyce-Clarke and as the Town crowd gasped, the goalkeeper made a fantastic save, bringing the game to a halt with the score level.
Lineups:
Hednesford Town: Parke, Gorman (Kinsella 45), Lomax (Harper-Bailey 37), Cirino (Rose 56), Curran-Nicholls, Turner, Sharples, Teesdale (Mottley-Henry 45), Maher (Sterling-James 56), Trialist A (Cooke 56), Trialist B
Subs not used: Hornby, Mabbley, Brown
PFA – First Half: Amos, Watson, Macdonald, Dunne, Bristow, Williams, Morsy, Thomas, Hemmings, Forestieri, Marquis
PFA – Second Half: Boyce-Clark, Caprice, Holgate, Dunne, Ferguson, Anderson, Paterson, Scott, Bodin, Moult, Kachunga
Attendance: 747
