Northern Premier League West Division football returns to Keys Park on Saturday 10th August when Vauxhall Motors travel down from Ellesmere Port for the season’s opening league game. Both teams have been in FA Cup Extra Preliminary Round action in the past week. Hednesford came away from Racing Club Warwick with a 4-1 win thanks to goals from Jake Jervis, Manny Duku, Jacob Gwilt and Kory Roberts while Vauxhall drew their home game with Northern Counties East League side Eccleshill United 1-1, Joe Brandon cancelling out the visitors’ lead in the 60th minute after Matthias Britton’s 26th minute opener. The replay on Wednesday went the way of Eccleshill who won 3-2 courtesy of a last-minute own goal from Vauxhall ‘keeper Jack Atkinson.
In last season’s fixtures Motors beat Hednesford 3-2 at The VanEupen Arena. A crowd of 180 watched Danny Glover and Demetri Brown twice give the visitors the lead in a game which saw Lucas Yeomans sent off and Sam Paddock carried off with a broken leg for The Pitmen. The return at Keys Park some five months later ended 1-1, Jai Verma claiming a late equaliser for the home side in front of 516 fans.
The two clubs had met four times in the league and once in the FA Cup previously to last season. Of those five games Hednesford have won twice and Vauxhall once with two draws. The Pitmen’s wins both came at Keys Park, 2-0 in September 2013 with two goals from Elliott Durrell while the 3-0 FA Cup win in 2005 saw Heath, Bell and Brindley on the scoresheet. The two draws were both at Rivacre Park, 0-0 in 2006 and 2-2 in 2013 when Wayne Riley and Francino Francis found the net for the visitors. The Motormen’s only win was 1-0 at Keys Park in 2005.
Among the new faces in the Vauxhall Motors squad since we last met are Paddy Kay the former Warrington and Nantwich midfielder and the evergreen Kevin Ellison. Now 45, he joined at the end of last season from Runcorn Town after a career that has seen him play over 800 games, in excess of 550 in the Football League including 352 for Morecambe from 2011-2020.Other new arrivals include Dom Hoppe from Cammell Laird, Jawad Jebrin from City of Liverpool and former Tranmere midfielder Ethan Goldbourne.
Hednesford’s 21-man squad shows big changes from the one that finished the 2023/24 season with just six players remaining from then. New manager Steve King has added quality and experience to the group as a new era under the ownership of Craig and Amanda Gwilt starts.
Pitmen Manager Steve King said; “Saturday’s game will present a tough test but one we are ready to embrace. I’m really pleased with the players I have brought to the club over the summer. I believe we’ve assembled a squad that can bring pride and success to Hednesford, and I’m excited to see how the team progresses game by game”.
Admission is £11 adults, £8 concession, £8 disabled with carer, £3 10–17-year-olds with under 10’s free. 10–12-year-olds and under 10’s must be accompanied by an adult. This can be paid by cash or card on the gate or in advance through the Fanbase App. Car parking is £3 cash only and the multi award winning programme will be on sale at £2.50. Kick off will be at 3pm with gates open at 12.15pm.
