Hednesford Town are back in action this evening when they welcome Bromsgrove Sporting to the RACE stadium for another local derby in the Southern League Central Premier division. The Pitmen dropped to the bottom of the table after Saturday’s 3-2 defeat at high flying Coalville Town but signs of improvement were evident already after a fine first half performance.

Bromsgrove are one of the better supported clubs in the division and their average home attendance of 798 last season was the highest in the league despite the club finishing in the lower half of the table. The club was founded in 2009 after the historic Bromsgrove Rovers were expelled from the Southern League and subsequently dissolved. Sporting have a short but very successful history so far with their first nine completed seasons seeing two league title wins and five promotions from the Midland Combination Division Two to their current level. After the two season cancellations Sporting finished 18th in their first full season at this level last season.

Bromsgrove are currently 17th in the league table with ten points from their first eight games. On Saturday a goal eleven minutes from time earned their first draw of the season after they had three wins and four defeats to start the season. There are a number of former Pitmen in the visiting squad with defenders Kieran Dawes, Ryan Pryce and Lewis Wright, midfielders Michael McGrath, Callum King-Harmes and George Forsyth and strikers Matthew Barnes-Homer, Andre Brown and Dan Sweeney all having played for Hednesford in the past. As we already know, Dan Sweeney in particular is an excellent striker who is prolific in front of goal and has scored seven goals already this season, four of those in the league.

Hednesford will be without striker Riley O’Sullivan who will be out for a number of weeks following his nasty looking injury from Saturday and midfielder Luke Rowe is still not fully fit. The management team, reflecting on the performance and the 3-2 defeat at Coalville said: “We were delighted with how we played first half on Saturday but football is 90 minutes so we have to be more resilient. The mood in the dressing after the game was mainly disappointment but we focused on what we did well and the positives that we must take into tonight’s game.”

Looking forward to this evening’s opponent and the test that Bromsgrove Sporting will provide the management team said: “Bromsgrove are a good side with a new management team this season who have bags of experience at this level and know how to get results so it will be a good test for us.”

The Pitmen need to start picking up wins to match their improving performances and hopefully we should be in for an entertaining game at the RACE stadium this evening.