A highly competitive pre-season friendly at the Victoria Ground saw the Pitmen earn a hard fought draw with league rivals Bromsgrove Sporting.
The crossbar had denied the hosts and Rhys Thompson had made the first of many robust challenges, before a tricky exchange between Danny Glover, George Cater and Louis Dodds saw the latter brought down in Sporting’s area. Glover stepped up to the spot, driving the ball low to the right of former Hednesford stopper Daniel Platt to give the Pitmen an early lead in the eighth minute.
Injuries dogged the hosts who were forced into three substitutions in the opening half hour. Despite the changes, Sporting mounted sustained pressure, going close with a spectacular overhead attempt and a blasted shot flying narrowly over the crossbar. Glover was denied a second by Platt after a set-up from Cater. Half chances came at both ends; before Sporting’s impressive Triallist A robbed Andy Wycherley placing the ball into an empty net from a tight angle for the equaliser in the 41st minute.
HT 1-1
The pace remained at a high tempo in the second half, Jack Hallahan spotted Platt off his line and his attempted lob drifted narrowly wide of the goal. Dan Preston was booked as Triallist A continued to cause problems for the Pitmen down the right, before having a goal bound shot tipped over the bar by Wycherley. The referee spotted a push from Preston at the subsequent corner, with Wycherley saving the spot kick from Triallist A.
There was a long delay after a Bromsgrove player sustained an unpleasant injury, and the game did not fully regain momentum as the final few minutes were played out.
After the game Assistant Manager Danny Glover commented; “We bounced back well from Saturday when we weren’t good enough as a group. We rode our luck at times but then so did they, we more than matched them, before gifting them a goal. It is only our fifth game as a group, it is still a learning curve and we will continue to make improvements. We would have been happy with the result if it had been a league game.”
Pitmen; Wycherley, Cole, Lycett (KIlford 75), Bailey, Preston, Hallahan, Cater (Norcross 66), Thompson (Smith 62), Glover, Dodds (Davies 62), Turner (Dongo 75). Subs not used; Dodd, Santana, Waddison.
