Pitmen Fly High As Brave Rushall Lose Again
A three goal first half blitz from Hednesford Town secured the points in a local grudge match as The Pitmen avenged their earlier season defeat to Rushall Olympic with a convincing win which leaves Rob Smith’s side just four points off top of the league with three games in hand.
Gary Hay opened the scoring on six minutes when a fierce long range shot by Kyle Haynes took a wicked bobble and bounced off the chest of Chris Gemmell and Hednesford were two up inside twelve minutes when Elliott Durrell advanced with menace from the right wing and powered a shot through the hapless Rushall keeper at the near post.
A Chris Clements shot made it 3-0 to the home side on thirty-seven minutes although Durrell will claim he had the final touch as the ball deflected off his shirt on the way in but soft defending by Hednesford allowed Ahmed Obeng to cut the deficit just before half time.
Pedro Monteiro saw red for a second booking for a foul on Obeng and Rushall briefly rallied with an attacking formation in the second half but a classy pass by Clements, weighted perfectly for Ben Jevons to place the ball over the goalkeeper on seventy-one minutes, secured the victory for The Pitmen.
Cheyenne Dunkley was again imperious at the heart of Hednesford’s defensive line and, with fourth-placed Chorley beating top of the league Northwich Victoria, Rob Smith’s side now have real aspirations to covet top spot by the end of what has been an immensely successful calendar year for the Keys Park outfit.
Hednesford Town
Crane, Haynes, Campion ©, Monteiro, Dunkley, Denny, Durrell (12), Clements (37), Danks (Bailey 58), Hay (6) (Wellecomme 39), Jevons (71) (Grice 78),
Subs Not Used
Allen, Shaw,
Rushall Olympic
Gemmell, Smith © (Forde 61), Skedgel, Tolley, Platt, Melbourne, Bragoli, Blythe (Bottomer 77), Adaggio (Wilkes 77), Obeng (40), Lewis,
Subs Not Used
Fitzpatrick, Dacres, Wilkes,
Bookings – Monteiro,
Sent Off – Monteiro
Star Man – Cheyenne Dunkley
Entertainment Rating – 4 Stars
Attendance – 614
