Nantwich Town 1
Hednesford Town 5
League (NPL Premier Division)

Match Report

Five second half goals from Hednesford Town condemned Nantwich Town to a 5-1 defeat at the Weaver Stadium, writes Ryan Batty.

A penalty from Harry Clayton gave Nantwich Town a half-time lead. But the Pitmen re-emerged all guns blazing, as James Lawrie grabbed two and Callam Mendez-Jones, Tom Thorley and Danny Glover all got one apiece.

The first talking point of the game came after five minutes, as Sean Cooke almost put Jordan Cole in but he couldn’t find the ball and Hednesford were able to clear. Cole was injured in the chance and had to be substituted by Steve Jones.

The first clear-cut chance came for the visitors on 20 minutes.

Fitzgibbon was played through, but oncoming pressure from Joel Stair forced the attacker into a weak shot which Krystian Burzynski easily saved.

A few minutes later, Nantwich came close as Jones found the ball in the box, cut inside to shoot but the Hednesford defence cleared.

After 28 minutes, Nantwich earned a free-kick a few yards into the visitors’ half. Sam Hall caught the keeper off his line and lobbed one towards Wren. The keeper dropped it in front of Clayton, but the Pitmen stopper dived on top of the ball before the striker could get a shot away.

Ten minutes later, Cooke capitalised on a mistake in the Hednesford defence as they allowed him to race away towards goal. But he took one touch too many as Wren dived at the midfielder’s feet to take the ball and make a fine last ditch challenge.

Clayton nearly gave the Dabbers the lead by converting a fine right wing cross from Caspar Hughes but his effort was past the post.

Then Jones received the ball in the box, and on the turn, was dragged down, giving the referee no choice but to give the Dabbers a penalty. Clayton fired into the left hand corner despite Wren guessing correctly.

The Pitmen came close grabbing an equaliser moments after the restart as Troy Bourne and then Courtney Wildin cleared efforts off the goal line.

However, Hednesford levelled soon after from a penalty of their own. The referee adjudged Bourne to have brought down Joey Butlin in the box. James Lawrie stepped up to make no mistake, sending Burzynski the wrong way and bringing his side level.

Just three minutes later, the visitors took the lead as a free-kick on the right was whipped in by Lawrie, and Callam Mendez-Jones ran in at the far post unmarked to slam home from close-range.

Soon after the hour mark, Stair was brought down in his own box, but an exchange with the referee saw Stair bizarrely shown a straight red card for dissent.

On 66 minutes, Jones was brought off for Joe Mwasile, and then Nathan Cotterell came on for Hall.

With 15 minutes left, Hednesford extended their lead as Lawrie fired a thunderbolt into the net for the attacker’s second goal of the game.

After 80 minutes, Thorley added a fourth as he took the ball around Burzynski and slotted home into an empty net.

The Dabbers weren’t able to push for a consolation and the Pitmen sealed the deal with five minutes to go as Danny Glover stabbed home after a low cross into the box.

Nantwich: Burzynski, Morgan, Wildin, Stair, Hall © (Cotterell 70’), Bell, Clayton, Cooke, Cole (S. Jones 7’ (Mwasile 66’)). Subs not used: Phillips, Forbes

Pictured: Steve Jones (right) was an early substitute for the Dabbers.

Match report written by Ryan Batty (www.nantwichtownfc.co.uk)