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23.3.2010

Durrell 72, Dyer 76

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Next Game

Hednesford got their play-off push back on track this evening with a hard-fought win over Truro City down in deepest Cornwall

After a six hour trip down to the most southern team in the Zamaretto League, Hednesford were greeted with the sight of ground staff forking the pitch vigourously after a heavy downpour. Fortunately, this did the trick, as the surface was passed fit just before kick off

Manager Bernard McNally made two changes to his starting line-up from last Tuesday's defeat to Nuneaton, with Dorryll Proffitt and Adam McGurk starting in place of Ross Dyer and Marlon Walters, who both lined up on the bench

Despite the wet, blustery conditions that greeted the sides at kick off, the home side made a decent start to the game. however, it was the Pitmen who had the first sight of goal, with Josh Craddock breaking through from midfield but firing weakly at Truro keeper Martin Rice

Elliott Durrell was convinced he had won a penalty for the Pitmen on fifteen minutes, as his ball appeared to strike the hand of a Truro defender just inside the area. The referee was unimpressed, and waved away the Pitmen's protests

Truro's first chance of the game fell to Andy Watkins on eighteen minutes; Les Afful's run and cross found Watkins in the centre, ten yards from goal, but the Truro man got his shot horribly wrong and skewed his shot wide of Stuart Brock's goal

Tyrone Barnett was doing his level best to get the Pitmen moving, giving Truro's Arran Pugh a tough time with his movement and aggression. The two would have a coming together later in the half that would see Barnett incur the wrath of the referee and receive a yellow card

On twenty eight minutes, Truro grabbed the lead, with the Pitmen's defence again the architects of their own downfall. Decio Gomes failed to get enough on his clearance, slicing the ball straight to Watkins. He sent over a great cross to find Stewart Yetton, who headed past Brock at the far post

Truro had been good value for their lead, adapting to the cold, slippery conditions better than the Pitmen, who still looked like a side that had spent most of the day on the M5. Yetton again could have forced a chance on thirty four minutes, but his shot was well blocked by Ben Bailey, who had tracked back well

After Barnett had been shown his yellow card on thirty six minutes, he was then sternly lectured by the referee for what was deemed an unfair challenge on Rice as both players went in for the ball just before the break

The rain continued to fall on and off during the break, with the ground staff out again at the break to patch the surface up. McNally resisted the temptation to introduce Dyer at the break, with the Pitmen only able to bring three substitutes due to work commitments for other squad players over the two days

Truro continued to push the Pitmen in the second half, with Afful again using his pace to test the Pitmen's resolve. His run and cross on fifty two minutes was just out of reach of the incoming Yetton, with Gomes heading clear under pressure

Yetton was guilty of missing a great opportunity on the hour mark, presented with a great chance from twelve yards out; however, just as Watkins did in the first half, he got his shot all wrong and fired wide when he should have done better

On came Dyer for McGurk two minutes later, as the Pitmen looked for more penetration up front. Dyer's introduction certainly did that, as the away side started to force Truro onto the back foot

Bailey tried his luck with a venomous shot on seventy minutes, picking up the ball just inside the Truro half before advancing ten yards and firing at Rice, who turned the ball over

From the resultant corner, Liam Francis thought he had grabbed the Pitmen's equaliser, heading home from close range from a Durrell's kick. The goal was ruled out for a foul on Rice in the build-up, much to the frustrations of the Hednesford players

The Pitmen's pressure told on seventy two minutes, as Dyer made his presence felt as he set Durrell up with a brilliant through ball, allowing the youngster to run through and drill the ball past Rice low into the corner of the net

Tails up, the Pitmen were sniffing all three points all of a sudden, and four minutes later the same two players combined to put Hednesford into the lead. This time, Durrell turned provider, playing Dyer through to give the former skipper time to place the ball past Rice

Truro were shocked into life - having been winning for so long, they suddenly found themselves chasing the game in the final ten minutes. Pugh almost grabbed an equaliser for the hosts on eighty two minutes, getting on the end of a free kick and heading towards goal, but Brock was equal to his header and parried away from goal

Truro appeared to run out of ideas in the final moments, as the Pitmen's defence saw the game out with a fair amount of ease to chalk up another notable win to add to their recent excellent record. With second placed Bashley visiting Keys Park on Saturday, the games don't get any easier, but if the Pitmen have ambitions of the play-offs come the end of the season, they have to be prepared to play anyone at any time to achieve this  cds

Mins On

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   Dyer

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28

McGurk

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