Pitmen Peak Too Late As Play-Off Hopes Hang By A Thread

Hednesford Town destroyed bottom side Prescot Cables to improve their goal difference but the team from Keys Park still need to rely on other sides if they are to sneak into the play-off places on the final day.

A young and demoralised Prescot side never looked like threatening on a gorgeous sunny afternoon on Merseyside once Tyrone Barnett opened the scoring after ten minutes. Durrell had earlier looked dangerous on four minutes when he took on the home sides' leaky defence but his cross was well blocked.

The opening goal came when Tom Marshall sprayed a fantastic cross field ball out to the left and found Ludovic Quistin. The left back headed the ball onto Ross Dyer who powered through the defence and shot from a tight angle. Phil Hunt fumbled the ball badly and Barnett was there to pick up the pieces and fire the ball into an empty net.

Having taken the lead 'The Pitmen' contrived to give the advantage away immediately as lax defending directly from the restart allowed Darren Byers a shooting opportunity but he scuffed his shot and the ball dribbled wide.

Hednesford were clearly the better side and with twelve minutes on the clock Marshall set Dyer away towards the Prescot goal, the striker rounded the goalkeeper and from a tight angle finished confidently. With barely a tenth of the game played 'The Pitmen' following were now able to relax in the sunshine; safe in the knowledge that three points were in the bag.

On fifteen minutes Hednesford nearly added a third goal when an Ant Maguire cross from the right found Dyer at the back post but his header flashed across goal and wide.

Anthony Shinks tried a long range shot after seventeen minutes but it was very poorly executed and never troubled Brock as it flew well wide. Hednesford continued to dominate the game, Marshall and Barnett should have done better with volleyed attempts on twenty-one and twenty-seven minutes respectively.

Marshall was involved again on twenty-eight minutes when he scuffed a good chance straight at the goal keeper and after half an hour his free-kick from the left fell to Maguire whose powerful shot was well blocked by the Prescot defence.

Ross Dyer continued to look lively but unfortunately on thirty-two minutes his long range shot was closer to the Mersey river than the Prescot goal as he blazed his shot over the bar.

Despite offering little in an attacking sense the home side continued to battle hard and at least try to gulf the obvious gap in class between the two sides. A lively game quietened down as the forty-minute mark was passed but Cedric Abraham tried his level best to open his Hednesford account with an acrobatic overhead kick which flew just over from a corner.

As first-half stoppage time approached Tyrone Barnett was put through and held off two defenders to give himself space to coolly side foot the ball past Hunt and into the net. With joy unconfined for Pitmen fans the game was now certainly over before the end of the first period.

Dyer had an opportunity in stoppage time to make it four-nil but his chance was smothered well by Hunt down bravely at the strikers' feet. Brock was called into rare action right at the death when a clever one-two created space for Byers but his shot was parried well by the goalkeeper.

Within three minutes of the restart Elliott broke through the Prescot defence in the area and was brought down by Hunt, 'The Pitmen' fans behind the goal screamed for a penalty but as the ball rolled towards the empty net the covering defender hoofed the ball off the line only to see it hit the stricken Durrell and rebound into the net.

A calamitous fourth goal for Hednesford meant the second half was always going to be somewhat of a formality and the away side were perhaps guilty of taking their foot off the gas somewhat. Had they continued their rampant opening twenty minutes performance the score could have resembled a rugby game.

Prescot huffed and puffed and did threaten to make the score line respectable with a series of long range efforts and snatched opportunities. Most notably in the form of Jamie Croxton's powerful shot saved well by Brock and Phil Green fluffing his lines at the back post after a cross had evaded the Hednesford goalkeeper.

'The Pitmen' threatened sporadically with a flicked header from Ross Dyer from a corner tipped over the bar on sixty-six minutes, Tyrone Barnett then missed a real sitter for his hat trick from the resulting corner. A Marshall free kick was curled in from deep and as the defence struggled to clear Durrell's shot was bravely blocked after seventy minutes.

The final quarter of the game was largely uneventful as Hednesford were happy with the result and Prescot looked tired and very much low on confidence. The final nail in the coffin came on eighty-five minutes as substitute Matthew West broke a ropey offside trap and when clean through squared the ball to Durrell for an easy tap in.

Cameron Dalton saw red with four minutes remaining for a crude and rather unnecessary challenge on Ben Bailey in front of the dugouts and, as his frustration got the better of him, all around the ground could see why it may be sometime before these two sides meet in the league again.

Dean Edwards' men will no doubt be happy for the three points and the good it has done to their goal difference. The final game of the season looms against Leigh Genesis at Keys Park next Saturday; all eyes will be on other results. It is very simple; Hednesford must win and hope FC United, Nantwich, Bradford, Kendal and Guiseley don't.

Prescot Cables

Hunt, Dalton, Bowden-Davies, McCulloch, Bell, McIntosh, Croxton, Shinks (Mahama 45), Byers, Connolly (Green 45), Williams (Forsyth 82),

Subs Not Used - Taylor, Owens,

Hednesford Town

Brock, Maguire (Gill 77), Quistin, Abraham (Bandurak 68), Harvey, Bailey, Hall, Durrell, Barnett, Dyer (West 74), Marshall,

Subs Not Used - Woolley

Referee - Mr S. A. Oldham

Attendance - 247

Chris Brewerton