> 1.9.2007

Oh dear. Just when you though it was safe to assume anything at Keys Park, the Pitmen surprise you with a poor performance that culminated in a first home league defeat of the campaign. There was one enforced change to the side after Paul Robinson's injury against Leek on Monday saw him sidelined. Keenan Meakin-Richards made a swift return to the starting XI

Kendal started well, pushing the Pitmen back into their own half. Rene Gilmartin fielded a brace of weak efforts as the home side struggled to make an impression on proceedings. Finally, they did manage a shot on goal, after some neat build-up work involving Dave Macpherson and Dominic Heath saw Simon Forsdick just clear the crossbar with a shot

Kendal could have taken the lead two minutes later when former Newcastle and Carlisle player Gareth Arnison found his way through the Hednesford defence with only Gilmartin to beat, but he was pulled up by an offside flag

Heath was next to have a go for the hosts, but his effort from a Forsdick corner bobbled about, hitting a number of bodies en route to goal before being cleared by some desperate Kendal defending

After their bright start, it was no real surprise that Kendal took the lead on twenty minutes. Kendal worked the ball into the area, where Peter Wright was waiting to turn the ball past Gilmartin from close range

Despite this setback, the Pitmen reduced the deficit just after the half hour. The impressive trio of Heath, Forsdick and Macpherson combined to allow the Hednesford skipper to fire home after a quickly worked free kick

Kendal were in no mood to let the Pitmen take the game to them, and they had further chances to take the lead again before half time. Arnison saw his effort frantically cleared off the line by Ross Adams, followed by another effort for Wright, who watched as Gilmartin saved

The away side's strong finish to the first half was replicated at the start of the second, and they were back in front only four minutes into the restart. Gilmartin's kick out hit Kendal substitute Craig Hudson on the back, with the Kendal player reacting quickly to the spinning ball and knocking the ball into the empty net before the Hednesford goalkeeper could react to the situation

Back came the Pitmen, stung by the Kendal goal; Ross Dyer's header was turned away by David Newnes in the Kendal goal, before the quiet Peter Knox played in Heath, but he was crowded out before he could get his shot away

Kendal settled the game on the hour mark with a classic breakaway goal. After a number of chances in and around the Kendal box, the Pitmen were caught out at the back as Arnison ran on to a Hudson ball to jink past Gilmartin and knock the ball into the empty net

The Pitmen tried their best to get back into the match, with Forsdick forcing Newnes into a fine save. Danny Blair, on for Gordon Simms, wasted a good free kick. For Kendal, well they could have made the scoreline very embarrassing with ten minutes left when Wright fluffed a chance to make it 4-1 with a mis-hit shot from close range

All in all, a depressing result for the Pitmen, one that sees them drop to eighth place, and with two defeats already this campaign. improvements will be needed come Monday night against Ashton United cds

Ashton United (A)

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