> 2.9.2006

Hednesford just can't seem to crack it at home, as the Pitmen yet again failed to take three points from their latest fixture in front of their own supporters, this time against Hull-based North Ferriby United this afternoon

 Following the Bank Holiday Monday defeat against Matlock, Phil Starbuck rung the changes, dropping new left-back Tom Groves to the bench and bringing back youngster Tom Marshall. Darren Alexander's endeavour earned him a starting place up front, with Ross Dyer dropping back to cover for Martin Ridley, who had work commitments. Phil Hadland came back in on the left wing to complete the line-up

 The Pitmen started brightly, with the hard-working Alexander almost conjuring a chance after six minutes. His chasing down of a Dyer ball forced the North Ferriby keeper Antoni Pecora into a rushed clearance, which only dropped to Hadland. His clever pass to Dave Whittaker saw the tall striker fire in a goalbound shot that Pecora saved well

 Whittaker was again involved a few minutes later, firing wide of the target after Alexander had got to a flick header to set his strike partner up

 North Ferriby came back into it, and a mistake by Steve Brannan almost allowed Gary Bradshaw to score ten minutes before the break, but his shot was wide of goal when he had a good chance to beat Ryan Young at his near post, much to the relief of the Hednesford supporters nervously eyeing the half time whistle

 It was Bradshaw who almost snatched a goal just after the break also, again capitalising on an error by a Hednesford player, this time Marshall, but Young was equal to his effort

 However, the Pitmen were undone a few seconds later when a corner was swung in by North Ferriby, with the ball falling to defender Neil Allison, who volleyed home a fine goal past Ryan Young from the edge of the box

 Left back Marshall attempted a recovery for the Pitmen from the restart, tricking his way past his marker before forcing Pecora into a good save from his drive. Pecora made another good save from Steve Brannan's free kick on the hour, as the Pitmen started to run out of time

Further half chances fell to Dave Whittaker and Alexander, who fully deserved his man of the match award for a committed display, but it looked like another throwaway defeat

 The Pitmen thought they had had the final chance in the last minute after a Brannan corner was missed by everyone, but it was Brannan's quick thinking that saved the Pitmen in added time. Following a foul on Ross Dyer on the edge of the area, Brannan quickly tapped the ball back to Tom Marshall, who drove the ball past Pecora to salvage a point for the home side at the death   cds

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