Hednesford Town brought their friendly campaign to an end in convincing fashion following an excellent 6-0 victory over Welsh Premier League side Newtown, writes Scott Smith.
Town received a boost ahead of the game with the news that last season’s top scorer, Elliott Durrell, had signed a new one year contract with the club, as they looked to keep the majority of the promotion winning squad together.
The Pitmen were dominant from the start and took the lead in the 23rd minute when Durrell back-heeled the ball into the path of Jamey Osborne and he picked out new signing Wayne Riley who was able to slot home in his first game for the club.
Three minutes later it was 2-0 when Darren Campion picked up the ball 30 yards out, drove forward and unleashed a low driven shot which found the back of the net via the base of the upright.
Hednesford could have extended their lead just sixty seconds later when Neil Harvey was brought down by home goalkeeper Aron Warwick in the penalty area. The usually reliable Durrell saw his spot kick hit the post though and rebound away to safety.
The home side offered very little in the opening half and six minutes into the second period the game was as good as over for them when Harvey powerfully headed home Alex Melbourne’s cross to further extend Town’s lead.
The Pitmen continued to press forward and they made it 4-0 in the 56th minute. A Durrell corner was headed onto the bar by Ben Bailey, Harvey saw his follow-up header saved, however Riley was on hand to slot home in a congested six yard box.
As the visitors made a number of substitutions the game entered something of a lull with neither side really testing either goalkeeper.
Dan Crane was forced into his first real save of the afternoon after 77 minutes; however it would be Hednesford who would strike again with just two minutes to go. Campion once again made his way forward from his left-back position and his low driven effort deceived Warwick in the Newtown goal and found the corner of the net.
As the game edged into the 90th minute, Hednesford completed the scoring when despite Warwick’s best efforts with an Aaron Rey shot, he was unable to keep the follow-up out from Michael Lennon to make it 6-0.
Hednesford will have been pleased with how the game turned out as they played out their final pre-season fixture before the start of the Skrill North on Saturday 17th August when The Pitmen visit Stalybridge Celtic.
Newtown AFC: Warwick, Edmunds, Jones, Penk, Hearsey, Wright, Boundford, Goodwin, O’Neil, Evans, Hodge
Subs not used: Evans, O’Reilly, Davies
Hednesford Town: Crane, Melbourne (Disney 57), Campion (c), Bailey, Francis (Barnes 70), Taylor, Osborne (Anagho-Ntamark 70), Durrell (Rogan 57), Harvey (Lennon 57), Riley (Rey 70), Thompson-Brown (Woolfe 57)
