For the second time in four weeks Hednesford Town made the journey to the Berry Street Garage Stadium in Merseyside when they visited Bootle FC. It was only a month ago that The Pitmen last played at the venue which saw them slip to a 2-1 defeat to City of Liverpool who share the ground. Bootle are currently in seventh place in the league table with 22 points from 14 games. Their home form has seen them pick up 11 points from seven games with three wins, two draws and three defeats.
A quick snapshot from the hosts’ Tom Peterson went wide of Ryan Brown’s post as a goalless opening twenty minutes was evenly contested with no other clear cut chances for either side. In an end to end opening spell the Pitmen were forced to make an early substitution as Michael Williams replaced the injured Lucas Yeomans. James Cooper put a dangerous ball into the Pitmen area for Bootle, however Jake Burton’s header drifted just wide of the post. Jai Verma on his Pitmen debut asked questions of the Bootle defence, delivering an inviting cross into the area which was ultimately claimed by Tony Thompson in goal for the home side. The deadlock was broken by the visitors in the 38th minute when Demetri Brown played an intelligent ball into the area for Joe Morley to latch onto and find the finish to give the Pitmen the lead. Ryan Brown, in goal for the Pitmen, confidently claimed a Bootle free kick into the area as the visitors looked to hold their lead until the half time break.
HT 0-1
The second half began with the home side pressing strongly for an equaliser, with Jake Burton heading narrowly wide from Sonny Hilton’s cross. Forward Callum Niven replaced Demetri Brown for the Pitmen in the 56th minute as the visitors tried to hang on to their lead. Ryan Brown continued to command his area, collecting a number of dangerous balls into the box. Brown was called into action again saving from a Bootle corner before Joe Morley went close to grabbing his second goal, forcing a save from Thompson at the other end. Hednesford’s Jai Verma was the next player to go close to adding to the score, shooting just over the crossbar from long range. Hednesford doubled their lead in the 77th minute when James McQuilkin threaded the ball through the area for Joe Morley to claim his second goal of the afternoon and leave the Pitmen close to just their second league win of the season. Bootle pulled a goal back in the 81st minute when the Pitmen defence failed to deal with a pass from Ben Hodkinson which found Jake Burton who finished past Ryan Brown to half the deficit. Joe Morley settled the nerves of the Pitmen, firing the ball into the top corner of the net to bag his hat-trick in the 90th minute, putting the result beyond doubt and cutting the deficit at the foot of the league table.
Bootle FC; Thompson, Cooper (Lomax 77), Smith, Hughes, Sephton, Miley, Hilton, Lenehan, Peterson, Burton, Hodkinson. Subs not used; Carney, Bentley, Buxton, Flight.
Hednesford Town; R Brown, Yeomans (Williams 16), Kelly, Thorley, Griffiths, Endall, Verma, McQuilkin, D Brown (Niven 56), Thompson, Morley. Subs not used; Spiers, May, Gwilt
