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Hednesford's
promotion aspirations were further enhanced this evening, as they swept
local rivals Rushall aside with a terrific opening salvo that
essentially ended the game as a contest
Mark Danks's
cameo on Saturday against Chorley earned him a starting spot in place of
Nick Wellecomme, who dropped to the bench. Ben Jevons also earned a
starting spot, with Chris Shaw missing out. Jamey Osbourne failed to
recover from the injury picked up during the 2-0 win at the weekend,
allowing Elliott Durrell to come back into the side
The Pitmen
got straight into their stride form the off, with Danks picking up a
Jevons ball and firing in an angled drive that Rushall keeper Chris
Gemmell parried away from goal after four minutes
The Pics were
struggling to get a foothold in the game early on, and fell behind on
six minutes. Kyle Haynes was given the freedom of Keys Park as he
advanced on goal down the right wing, rifling in a bobbling shot that
Gemmell could only parry. The ball fell kindly to the feet of Gary Hay,
who made it three goals in two games with a simple tap-in on the
follow-up
Tails up, the
Pitmen continued to pile forward in search of a second goal. Chris
Clements played Danks in with a clever ball down the left wing, with the
striker sending over a cross that Jevons headed just wide on ten minutes
Three minutes
later, Durrell grabbed his second goal of the season with a trademark
finish, firing past Gemmell from an angle after he had robbed for
Hednesford player Danny Bragoli near his own penalty area and jinked his
way into the penalty area
Rushall
showed signs of improvement following Durrell's goal, as they showed
some industry in forcing the Pitmen back. A flurry of set pieces gave
Cheyenne Dunkley and Pedro Monteiro work to do, especially in watching
the livewire Ahmed Obeng
Obeng went
closest to a reply for Olympic on nineteen minutes, but his twenty yard
effort went well wide of Dan Crane's goal
Gemmell had
to be alert to deal with a Haynes cross on twenty eight minutes,
claiming the ball as former Rushall man Jevons looked to get on the end
of the ball
The Pitmen
put daylight between themselves and the Pics on thirty seven minutes, as
top scorer Chris Clements added to his burgeoning reputation with yet
another goal. Bragoli lost out in midfield to Jay Denny, with the loose
ball picked up by Clements. He advanced on goal before unleashing a
powerful long range shot that appeared to brush Durrell and beat Gemmell
into the bottom corner of the net
Gary Hay's
game came to an end as he was replaced on thirty nine minutes by
Wellecomme, who added power and presence up front after coming on
Obeng has
been earning rave reviews this season with his regular goals and overall
play, and he added to his tally for 11-12 just before half time. Marco
Adaggio played the ball into the path of the front man, who turned on
the edge of the area and curled a brilliant shot beyond the reach of
Crane to reduce the deficit
Rushall
started the second half on the front foot, clearly believing there was
something left to gain from the match. A couple of early corners gave
the Pitmen's defence problems, with Adaggio going close with a header
Former
Pitmen Bragoli and Alex Melbourne linked up on fifty six minutes to
create a chance for Adaggio, with Melbourne whipping in a cross that
eluded the former Stafford forward by inches six yards out
Monteiro,
booked in the first half in a moment of petulance, was shown a second
yellow on fifty seven minutes after a late challenge on Obeng. Manager
Rob Smith reacted immediately by bringing on centre back Ben
Bailey in place of striker Danks to compensate for the loss of Monteiro
Rushall gave
the Pitmen ten minutes to worry about following this, as the Pics pushed
the hosts into their own third. Two dangerous corner kicks were well
dealt with by the excellent Dunkley, with Michael Tolley having a go
with a long range shot that only just missed Crane's right hand post
After
weathering the storm, the home side finished the game off as a contest
on seventy one minutes. Clements played a wonderful through ball into
the path of Jevons, who finished brilliantly with a cool finish past
Gemmell from the edge of the area
Jevons'
reward for finishing the game off was to be withdrawn on seventy eight
minutes, allowing Bradley Grice to make his first team debut in a late
substitute appearance
Rushall
continued to press, to their credit, and nearly reduced the deficit with
two minutes remaining when Bragoli struck to top of the crossbar with a
mis-hit cross that nearly caught Crane out
With Chorley
beating Northwich Victoria this evening also, it has turned out to be a
very profitable day's work for the Pitmen, with Smith's side now only
four points of top spot with three games in hand on both Northwich and
Chester
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