Hednesford Town won the Staffordshire Senior Cup Final in glorious fashion as The Pitmen swept aside Rushall Olympic to claim the trophy for the first time since 1974 with Jamey Osborne turning in a truly memorable man of the match performance.
The young midfielder was a constant threat to The Pics all evening scoring two goals, but every Hednesford player will be proud of the way they played as Rushall had no answer to the powerful and purposeful running by Neil Harvey, Michael Lennon and the imperious Dave MacPherson.
MacPherson had what looked like a valid penalty claim turned down on seven minutes after Harvey was given the freedom of the pitch to play him through on goal and Harvey then forced Chris Gemmell into a full stretch save on 15 minutes.
Kyle Haynes gave Rushall a lead against the run of play in the 20th minute with an outstanding long range strike which would have graced any cup final, but once Ben Bailey equalised from close range, despite MacPherson and Osborne shooting over when well placed for Hednesford and Dave Walker missing two great opportunities just after half time, The Pitmen demolished a tired Pics side.
Osborne scored twice in five minutes after the hour mark with two superbly controlled finishes and was denied a famous hat-trick when he crashed the woodwork from fully 30 yards on 79 minutes.
Substitute Aaron Rey and MacPherson completed the rout, sending the travelling throngs of vocal Pitmen supporters at Vale Park into overjoyed celebration at the final whistle.
Hednesford Town
Crane, Disney, Campion (c), Bailey (28), Francis (Barnes 51), MacPherson (90), Osborne (64, 69), Durrell, Harvey (Rey 77), Lennon, Woolfe (Melbourne 41)
Subs Not Used
Wright, O’Connor
Rushall Olympic
Gemmell, Haynes (20), Beckett, Tolley, Smith, Thompson, Edmunds (Islam 52), Craddock, Walker (Dovey 77), Obeng (Landell 66), Stephens
Subs Not Used
Daniel, Caines
Bookings – Bailey, Francis, Tolley
Attendance – 575
Entertainment Rating – 5 Stars
Star Man – Jamey Osborne
Match Action
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