> 27.10.2007

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Hednesford much-changed line-up came up with an astounding result at Keys Park this afternoon, destroying UniBond Premier new boys Stamford with a goalscoring master-class. Ashley Woolliscroft's sudden departure to Stalybridge opened the way for Chad Sheppard to make his re-appearance in a Hednesford shirt following his arrival from Rushall, whilst Daniel Wells and David Brown both made their first starts for the Pitmen after the departure of Dominic Heath and Tim Sanders being dropped to the bench

And what an opening we had! The home side stormed into a two goal lead inside the first ten minutes, as Stamford were carved open by a rampant Hednesford attack. Firstly, on eight minutes, and flowing move saw the ball come to Brown just inside the area, allowing the youngster to stroke the ball home. Two minutes later, and the Pitmen were in dreamland, with Brown again on target; Ross Adams played the ball to the winger, who again confidently found the net from inside the area

Although the Pitmen were on top, keeper Rene Gilmartin was to have an excellent afternoon between the sticks, making the first of three great saves on fifteen minutes to deny Stamford's Stephen Towers

The home side had their tails up, however, and extended their lead on twenty minutes. Linden Dovey, who looked to have strayed into an offside position, collected another excellent ball from Adams to run through unchallenged and place a shot into the top right hand corner of the net. Three shots, three goals

Hednesford's joy was cut short just a minute or so later when Stamford were awarded a penalty. Tyrone Kirk was sent tumbling after a clumsy challenge from Wayne Dyer, allowing veteran striker Tony Battersby to fire confidently past Gilmartin into the top left hand corner of the net

Cue Ross Dyer. The youngster's season has been a mixed one so far, with the youth team graduate playing in a number of positions. However, this was to be his game from here on in. After he had tested Stamford's resolve with an effort wide of goal, he grabbed the Pitmen's fourth in injury time at the end of the first half. His run and shot was saved by Chris Sanna in the Stamford goal, but he could only parry the ball back to Dyer, who fired home at the second attempt 

The second period was all one way traffic in terms of goals, as the Pitmen continued to find the net regularly. A number of early efforts from Dovey, Brown and Dyer all tested a shell-shocked Stamford defence - marshalled by former Pitman Lee Colkin - before the hosts went further in front just after the hour mark. Dyer's second goal was a real beauty, showcasing the true talent he has with the ball at his feet. Brown's ball to Dyer found him with his back to goal, surrounded by three defenders. A quick shimmy to the right took all three out of the game, opening up the play to allow Dyer to turn left and curl a shot beyond Sanna for number five

Alan Nagington replaced Dovey and Tim Sanders replaced the ineffective Mario Pedro by this point, but had to watch on as Gilmartin made two fine saves in a two minute spell as Stamford, to their credit, kept plugging away. Towers was denied by a Gilmartin save to his left, stretching full-length to tip the ball away.  He then made an even better save to deny Leon Mettam, tipping a rising shot onto the bar and away for a corner

Sanders almost got his first goal for the Pitmen with a long-range shot, before Dyer wrapped up a superb performance with a well-deserved third a minute from the end. It was a lucky goal, as Dyer did use his hand in the build-up, but the ball dropped kindly for him as he drilled the ball in from a tight angle to complete a very satisfying day's work   cds

Guiseley (H) FAT2Q 

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Action from Keys Park; 1. goalscorer Linden Dovey is a marked man  2. another goalscorer, David Brown, runs at the Stamford defence  3. goal! Ross Dyer is congratulated by his team-mates after the first of his hat-trick

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