Hednesford Town continued their promotion push after an eventful victory against Guiseley in a game which saw both the home sides’ goalkeepers sent off. Ross Dyer was the hero for ‘The Pitmen’ fans as he scored a goal in each half to earn the three points.

Despite Hednesford ending up the winners it was Guiseley who looked most likely to win the game in the first half. A confident and assured display by David Briggs and Sam Bambrook in the heart of the midfield showed the watching crowd why their side are still in with a chance of a play-off spot. Bambrook dragged his shot wide when given far too much space by the Hednesford midfield after ten minutes.

Briggs badly fouled Durrell as the midfield battle began to hot up after sixteen minutes and earned a yellow card for his efforts. Ross Draper found himself free from the shackles of a strong Guiseley midfield a minute later but his looping half volley dipped too late and Piotr Skiba watched the ball over the crossbar.

‘The Pitmen’ were struggling with the bouncy playing surface, a sloping pitch and a chilly north wind and after twenty six minutes their struggles worsened.

The defence was unable to clear the ball in the left back area and, as the ball broke free, Sam Bambrook powered into the area and shot low at goal. Stuart Brock managed to get a hand to the ball but could only divert it to James Hanson who was presented with an easy tap in. Guiseley continued to dominate as the half wore on and although Barnett and Dyer showed flashes of skill ‘The Pitmen’ struggled to keep the ball up front.

Guiseley were on top for ten minutes after the goal and James Hanson shot over after thirty-two minutes when well placed. ‘The Pitmen’ struggled to contain the home side and although Ross Draper did his best to prevent any further chances the side from Leeds forced numerous corners. The final ball just seemed to be lacking.

Guiseley were forced to pay for their lack of a cutting edge when against the run of play after forty minutes a long ball into the area was flicked on well by Danny Harvey. Ross Dyer superbly controlled the ball on his chest and rifled the ball past a helpless Skiba into the back of the net.

A fairly quiet first half was brought to an end with the scores level and both sides certainly felt that they were in with a chance of leaving with three points. A dramatic second half was to follow and ‘The Pitmen’ were now attacking down the slope and with the wind on their backs.

Hednesford created the first opportunity of the half after fifty eight minutes when a corner was chipped in by Sam Hall and Danny Harvey forced a goal line clearance by Adam Muller to prevent the away side taking the lead.

‘The Pitmen’ had Stuart Brock to thank after sixty-six minutes with the goalkeeper making a tremendous point blank save and Muller again forced the defence to block his shot from the resulting corner.

The away side took the upper hand in the game when Ross Dyer anticipated a weak header back to the goalkeeper and got to the ball first. The striker knocked the ball past Skiba and was brought down inside the penalty area. The referee had no choice but to show a straight red card for a professional foul and in an instant the whole outlook of the game changed. Just like the previous Saturday against FC United Dyer stepped up confidently and despatched the ball into the bottom right hand corner of the net to give his team an important lead. In the build up to the penalty the substitute keeper, Aaron Ratchford, was booked for refusing to heed the advice of the referee in standing on his line ready for the kick to be taken.

Ten minutes later and with Guiseley throwing everything forward in order to grab an equaliser Hednesford offered them a gift when Draper unnecessarily fouled Muller and conceded a penalty. Pitmen hearts were fluttering as Anthony Lloyd stepped up to take a kick which would no doubt have a massive impact on both sides’ promotion chances. To the joy of the away support his weak side-footed penalty was easily saved by Brock with the keeper guessing correctly and saving the ball down to his left.

The stuffing was knocked out of the home side with their penalty miss and despite one corner in the eighty-seventh minute ‘The Pitmen’s’ defence stood tall and battled superbly to prevent an equaliser. As the clock ticked over to ninety-two minutes Tyrone Barnett counter attacked and sent through Durrell who bore down on Ratchford in the Guiseley goal. He knocked the ball past the goalkeeper and was brought down for the third penalty kick of the game. Once again the referee had no choice but to give Ratchford his second caution of a rather short game and he was sent back to the dressing room.

David Briggs was given the unenviable task of swapping centre half for a place between the posts but the resulting penalty from Dyer smacked the underside of the crossbar and bounced down and away from the goal. Luckily for ‘The Pitmen’ Dyer’s missed opportunity for a famous hat-trick was not too costly as they held on for a vital win.

In a game full of incident with three penalties and red cards for both Guiseley goalkeepers Hednesford will no doubt be very happy with the outcome. The game will live long in the memory of the three hundred and seven people who turned out to support the two sides and Dean Edwards’ men can now make the long trip up to Whitby on Wednesday evening knowing that their Unibond promotion destiny is still in their own hands.