> 30.9.2006

 Hednesford produced possibly their worst ninety minutes of the season against Ossett Town this afternoon at Keys Park, dropping off top spot in the UniBond Premier League in the process. There was  one enforced change to the side that had beaten Leek on Monday night, with Ross Adams missing due to injury - he was replaced by Tom Franklin, who played out of position on the right side

 Otherwise, it was 'as you were' for Hednesford, who found it very hard going in the first period against a direct Ossett side, who included a familiar face from a few years ago in the form of Andy Hayward, who played for the Pitmen way back in the Vauxhall Conference days in 1998

 As early as the fourth minute Ossett could have taken the lead, with David Briggs firing over the bar from the edge of the area

 Their direct approach almost paid off on fifteen minutes when Hayward chased onto a long kick from Neil Bennett, the Ossett keeper, before getting something on the ball and tapping home, only to be denied by a dubious linesman's flag

 The Pitmen slowly stirred, and spurred on by the hard work of Darren Alexander, came back into the game. Fellow striker Dave Whittaker should have done better from an Alexander pass, but fired wide of the target, followed by a Chad Sheppard cross that evaded everyone inside the six yard box

Ossett's persistence with the long ball game finally paid off as they took the lead midway through the half. Another long punt up to the penalty area saw Ryan Young and Tom Marshall hesitate, allowing Hayward to nip in and bundle the ball home after two bites of the cherry

Whittaker's woeful luck with injuries struck again just before the break as he went off injured for the second game in succession, this time with a dead leg. No matter, as Alexander managed to bring the sides level four minutes before half time, cracking home a superb goal with a strike from twenty yards out

 Chances came and went in the second half, with Ossett looking the more likely to score, prompting manager Phil Starbuck to change it around by bringing on Danny Jellicoe and moving the struggling Tom Franklin into his more favoured role in midfield

 Alexander had the best chance of anyone to wrap up the three points twenty minutes from the end, but his close range header from sub Mario Pedro's cross hit the crossbar at the far post

 At the other end, Ossett's Robert O'Brien could have stolen the points for the away side late on, but his shot just flew wide of the post, much to the relief of the Hednesford faithful   cds

Lincoln United (A)

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Jellicoe

1

Pedro

.15

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