> 21.12.2002

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Derek Rae's second goal of the season saw Hednesford claim back-to-back 1-0 wins in the Dr. Martens Premier, following on from their win over Halesowen last week. Following Carl Adams' departure to Hucknall Town this week, manager Ian Painter was forced into a switch, bringing Les Robinson into central midfield alongside Darren Simkin

 The match kicked off amid very foggy and cold conditions, with the Pitmen starting brightly; Paul Kiely's clever play allowed him to turn and shoot, but fired well wide

 Hednesford enjoyed the lion's share of possession during the first period, but just could not find the killer touch. Damien Charie, starting for the first time this season, was scaring the life out of the Hastings defence with his mazy runs, but lacked any penetration with his final ball

 When the ball did finally fall at the feet of one of the forwards, the in-form Steve Piearce somehow dragged his shot wide on the half hour mark

 Robinson received a kick on his leg as a result of a clash in the centre of the park and soldiered on until just before the break, when the pain got too much for him and he had to be replaced by the returning Derek Rae

 Rae went on to produce one of his best performances for the Pitmen, at a time when consistent, hard-working midfielders are hard to come by at Keys Park

 The second half continued in much the same vein, with Hednesford dominating possession and territory, but not doing too much with it

 At the other end, Michael Bingham was having the quietest game of his short Hednesford career, with a toothless Hastings attack not mustering a shot on target for the whole ninety minutes. More of this, and Hastings will be looking over their shoulders come the end of the season

On seventy two minutes, just when it looked as though Hednesford were to toil without reward, they got the breakthrough. Bryan Small produced a cross that was well controlled by sub Kevin Francis; his neat lay-off found Rae, who fired home from the edge of the area for his first goal since the opening day of the season at Crawley

The Pitmen could have had more, but once again poor final balls from the likes of Charie, Simkin and sub Anthony Maguire let them down

Replacement Kevin Francis could have finished Hasting off, but his weak header lopped high over the bar with a minute remaining

 No worries, though - another 1-0 win, another three points and another game unbeaten at 'fortress' Keys Park cds

Moor Green (H) 

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Rae

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Maguire

Francis

Francis

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Charie

Robinson

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