Hednesford Town kicked off the new season at home to Vauxhall Motors with a new look squad, in front of an attendance of 1105 at Keys Park.

A dominant opening spell from the Pitmen saw them threaten the Motors’ goal early on. Zidan Sutherland hit the crossbar while Sion Spence had an effort disallowed for offside.

Just after Manny Duku forced a good save from Jack Atkinson, the Pitmen took the lead through Dominic McHale’s effort from outside the box.

Motors had a couple of half chances before Sutherland broke through their defence to double the Pitmen’s advantage in the 38th minute.

HT 2-0

Motors got back into the game early in the second half when skipper Ben Homes headed home from a corner.

Substitute Dan Trickett-Smith put the ball in the net for the Pitmen but was once again thwarted by the linesman’s flag. A diving header from Jack Bearne was spectacularly tipped over the bar for a corner as the Pitmen sought to put the game to bed.

The result was sealed for Hednesford Town when Duku got on the end of Sion Spence’s cross and headed past Atkinson in the 82nd minute.

Connor Rankin headed a consolation goal deep into injury time, finding the net from another Motor’s corner, however the goal came too late to have an influence on the final result.

Hednesford Town; Rose, Rowe, Taylor, Roberts, Johnson, Maye (Alamu-Tajudeen 88) , Bearne (Sparkes 83), Spence (Holness 83), Duku, McHale (Trickett-Smith 59), Sutherland (Jervis 63).

Vauxhall Motors; Atkinson, Harrison (Ellison 63), Hughes (Hoppe 7), Dufton-Kelly, Mbolokeke, Holmes (Jones 89), Jerbin, Wynne, Rankin, Kay (Nugent 63), Deer. Sub not used; Ruffer.