> 15.10.2007

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Hednesford's F.A. Cup hangover lasted well into Monday evening as they continued to lose ground on the play-off contenders after a home defeat against newly-promoted Buxton this evening. After Saturday's Rushall horror show, Lee Whittington returned as part of his 'share' deal with Harrogate Town up front, alongside Alan Nagington, who was surprisingly named in the side despite suffering a knee injury just over a week ago. Injuries stretched the squad to the limit, with youngster Daniel Wells drafted in to cover the last substitute's spot

Buxton, who have made a satisfactory start to life back in the Northern League's top tier, made a good start, pushing the Pitmen back. A couple of early corners tested the home side's fragile resolve and confidence, with Anton Foster whistling a shot just wide after an uncharacteristic mistake from Ross Adams

Individual errors from a number of Hednesford players was to be the theme of the night, and Rene Gilmartin had to be alert to clear a ball from the feet of Jason Bradley, who nearly rook advantage of a poor touch from Steve Palmer, who looked painfully off the pace and clearly not 100% fit

Mid-way through the half, Palmer was again caught out, losing the ball cheaply to Foster, who played in Jason Bradley. As he shaped to shoot, skipper Tom Marshall managed to get back and make a tackle

with all of these errors going on, it seemed only a matter of time before Buxton took advantage, and a goal arrived just before the half hour. Buxton's corner from the left  went right to the back post, where Terry Bowker turned the ball narrowly over the line through a crowd of players

It was all Buxton, and Marshall had to clear a dangerous-looking cross from Grant Black. It mattered little, as the visitors went further in front from the resultant corner. The ball found it's way to James Turley, who scored his first goal for Buxton with a crisp drive past Rene Gilmartin from the edge of the area

Tim Sanders was one of the few Hednesford players trying to drag the Pitmen into the game, and he almost scored with a crafty shot that was just too high 

The barely-fit Marshall was doing some sterling work at the back, mainly covering for defensive cock-ups, and was keeping Buxton in check almost single-handedly during the first period, which ended with a familiar rendition of boos from a section of the home supporters

Nagington's injury worries surfaced again, with him replaced by Linden Dovey at the break. It took the Pitmen only three minutes of the restart to lift their spirits as Ross Dyer collected a great little pass from sanders to dart in and score low past keeper Scott Hartley

If the Hednesford crowd sensed a comeback, they were to be mistaken, as Buxton went back on the offensive. Michael Towey thumped the post with a drive from the edge of the area, with the follow-up shot missing the target by inches

Once again, you feared that the pressure would see the Pitmen crack, and it did a couple of minute later. Turley shrugged off some lacklustre defending to fire past Gilmartin from sixteen yards out

At the other end.... well, very little. Whittington tested Hartley with a fierce drive, before Dovey tried a speculative effort that was wide of goal

The Hednesford back-line spent much of the last twenty minutes mopping up it's own errors, with countless schoolboy errors from the likes of Ashley Woolliscroft, Ross Adams, the anonymous Mario Pedro and Marshall, who nearly gifted the Buxton forwards three chances with his misjudgments. Another poor night's work  - how many more can we spare this season?  cds

Willenhall Town (A) FAT 

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