The Pitmen kicked off the new season with a visit to Townsend Meadow to face Racing Club Warwick in the Extra Preliminary Round of the the FA Cup.
The opening twenty minutes of the game were scrappy and fairly evenly matched. The home side were physical and played long balls forward to challenge the Pitmen defence, Jack Rose had some work to do during the opening phase of the game making a couple of comfortable saves before tipping over an effort from ex-Pitman Ryan Andrews. In response the Pitmen carved out a couple of decent half chances which saw Abdulrasaq Alamu-Tajudeen shoot narrowly wide and an overhead attempt from Jack Bearne marginally miss the mark.
The game sprung to life in the 26th minute when Jake Jervis was able to tuck away a cross supplied by Manny Duku to give the Pitmen the lead. Unfortunately the lead only lasted a minute as Louis Monaghan applied an excellent finish to the top corner of the net to equalise for the hosts. The goals continued to come and in the 29th minute the advantage returned to the Pitmen when a superb pass from Alamu-Tajudeen found Duku in the area who had no problem in finding a sharp finish. Hednesford had opportunities to stretch their lead before the half time break with Alamu-Tajudeen shooting directly at the Warwick keeper, while Sion Spence fired the ball over the bar after a good build up from the Pitmen. Warwick went close with a corner which was headed off the line by skipper Elliot Johnson. An altercation in the 41st minute between Greg Mills and Blaine Rowe saw both players booked.
HT 1-2
The second half remained a tight affair for much of the period, a couple of half chances fell to Spence who fired the ball over the bar with one attempt before just failing to apply a finish to a delivery from Rowe. Duku flashed the ball across the face of the goal as the Pitmen searched for a third goal to kill the game. Warwick remained resolute to their task, however the game began to turn in favour of the Pitmen as both sides made substitutions. Zidan Sutherland replaced Duku and almost had an instant impact seeing a shot tipped over for a corner. Bearne went close audaciously trying to curl in a free kick from a tight angle, while some excellent running from Sutherland created a chance for Jervis which was snuffed out by the Warwick defence. The inevitable third goal finally came in the 79th minute when Jervis supplied a cross for Sutherland whose effort was saved by Sam Lomax, only for substitute Jacob Gwilt on hand to blast home the follow up. Kory Roberts put the icing on the cake in the 86th minute scoring from a tight angle while enjoying a break from his defensive duties. There was still time for Sutherland to hit the bar, as the Pitmen earned a well deserved victory and progressed to the next round of the FA Cup with a tie against Worcester Raiders.
Racing Club Warwick; Lomax, Bennett, Hancocks (Carsley 62), Willis, Langmead, Freeman, Hamp (Mooney 80), Andrews (Sneddon 59), Mills (McKenzie 52), Monaghan (Nesbitt 71), Taylor. Subs not used; Ebbutt.
Hednesford Town; Rose, Rowe, Taylor (Sparkes 90), Roberts, Johnson, Maye, Bearne (Gwilt 76), Alamu-Tajudeen (Holness 70), Duku (Sutherland 63), Jervis, Spence (McHale 72). Subs not used; Stevenson, Brown.
Attendance 474
