Hednesford go into this weekend’s clash with Needham Market at Keys Park on Saturday knowing that even a win may not be enough for them to retain their Southern Premier Central League status. If Kings Langley beat Stourbridge and Stratford avoid defeat against Barwell then both will be out of the Pitmen’s reach.
Needham Market who this week extended the contracts of Manager Kevin Horlock and his assistant Tom Rothery for the next three years, are eighth in the current form table with nine points from their last five games and a record of two wins and three draws. One of those wins was a 1-0 victory at league leaders Tamworth, just their third away win of the season- the others being a 1-0 win at Bedford and a 2-0 win at Kings Langley. Out of the 18 away games they’ve played they’ve also drawn five and lost 10, scoring 14 goals and conceding 24. This along with their superior home record where they’ve picked up 30 points from 18 games gives them a total of 44 points and leaves them in 14th place.
The two clubs have met five times before, The Marketmen winning three, Hednesford one with one draw. The last meeting was earlier this season on Tuesday 6th December 2022 at Bloomfields when a 70th minute Crane goal was all that separated the teams in front of a crowd of 175. Hednesford’s only win against Needham Market came on the opening day of the 2021/22 season when they won 2-1 at Keys Park.
Kick off on Saturday will be at the usual time of 3pm with gates and bars open at 1pm. Admission is £12 adults, £9 concessions, £5 U16s (with a supervising paying adult) and U5s free (again if accompanied by a paying adult). A family ticket for one adult and one U16 is £15.
