Hednesford Town faced Quorn at Keys Park in the First Qualifying Round of the Isuzu FA Trophy. The result was settled in the first 21 minutes of the match with a glut of goals going in favour of the Pitmen. The game was only two minutes old when the ball was played into the Quorn area, arriving at the feet of Jake Jervis, who with his back to the goal was able to turn and fire past Tom Allsopp to give the home side an early lead. In the 11th minute against the run of play Quorn scored an equaliser when Paddy Webb found the net from long distance. Quorn could have gone ahead a minute later when they headed wide from a corner but the rest of the half belonged to the Pitmen. Dominic McHale went on a run through the box for the Pitmen, beating three defenders before almost walking the ball into the net to restore Hednesford’s lead in the 16th minute. Two minutes later a superb team move from the Pitmen was ended with a clinical finish from Jack Bearne. The momentum remained in Hednesford’s favour with the visitors helpless against the onslaught. Bearne found the net again in the 21st minute with a spectacular diving header. Dan Trickett-Smith went close for the Pitmen forcing a low save from Allsopp with a freekick. Courey Grantham made a good run through the Pitmen defence but was thwarted by a fantastic one handed save by Ryan Brown.

The second half was a much quieter affair with the Pitmen happy to take their foot off the accelerator, sit behind the ball and maintain possession for long periods of the game, Jervis had a shot tipped over by Allsopp, before Brown parried a shot from Webb. A series of substitutions and injuries for both teams interrupted the flow of the game as the half became very stop and start. Kory Roberts went close to adding to the Pitmen lead, looping the ball over the bar from a corner before Sion Spence appeared to have a couple of crosses handled by the Quorn defence, although no penalties were awarded. Jervis nearly claimed a second in the dying minutes of the game forcing an excellent save from Allsopp. There would be no further additions to the scoreline in what ultimately proved to be a good win for the Pitmen.

Hednesford Town manager Steve King said after the game; “It is a good result and I am pleased that we scored four good attacking team goals, it was not a one sided game and Quorn kept coming at us.”

Hednesford Town; Brown (Gwilt 59), Rowe, Taylor, Johnson, Roberts, Maye, Trickett-Smith, Jervis, Stevenson (Duku 64), McHale (Sutherland 68), Bearne (Spence 46). Subs not used; Rose.