Stourbridge 1 Hednesford Town 2

Following quickly on the heels of Saturday’s defeat at Warrington Town, manager Gary Hackett will have been disappointed to see his team let a point slip from their grasp so late on, a failing that played a large part in the team, missing out on a play-off place in the final couple of weeks of last season.

There were three changes from the team from the weekend, with injury ruling out Junior Smikle and Jack Duggan, who were replaced by Lewis Probert and Kristian Green, whilst Luke Benbow came in for his “second debut” in place of Justin Richards.

It was the visitors who made the brighter start on a warm Black Country evening, and they might have been ahead twice with good chances in the opening five minutes. First Simeon Maye cut in from the right flank and curled a short towards the top corner, with Gould flinging himself to his right to tip the ball away, and then Tristan Dunkley prodded a loose ball against Gould’s left-hand post, with the Stour defence somehow bundling it to safety thereafter.

The game calmed down thereafter, with the only incident of any note seeing Dan Scarr and Dunkley clash accidentally leaving the Glassboys defender needing repairs to his nose and Dunkley needing a fresh, unblooded shirt.

Hednesford were still largely in control, however, and it was therefore a minor surprise when the Glassboys went ahead. Chris Lait ran at left back Cohen Bramall before slipping the ball in to Benbow, whose initial shot was blocked. However, the striker showed great tenacity to win the ball back and square it across the six-yard box for Kayelden Brown to tap home.

Almost instantly it could have been two, as Brown returned the compliment with a ball in from the left that Benbow could only screw wide of the far post.

The Glassboys could not capitalise on this though, and Hednesford went close again on 22 minutes as Dunkley’s cross found Ashley Sammons at the far post who pulled the ball back but behind Maye, allowing Joe Hull to clear.

Dunkley had a try from some way out on 25 minutes, with the ball sailing harmlessly wide, but his next effort bore fruit eight minutes later as he pounced on a half cleared header to thump a volley back past the helpless Gould from just outside the penalty area.

Stour responded through Scarr, but his header from a Tom Tonks throw was clutched low down by Dan Crane, and then Leon Broadhurst’s shot from distances was charged down at the expense of a corner that flew through the six-yard box with nobody able to apply the finishing touch.

The final action of the half saw the Pitmen produce the best move of the game, ending with a shot from Tom Thorley deflected wide for a corner which the Glassboys defence dealt with comfortably.

Stourbridge would have been happy to be level at the break, given the general pattern of the game, but the second half turned out to be a much more even affair, with the Glassboys if anything creating more chances, albeit few of them clear cut.

Sammons tried his luck on the volley within the first minute, clearing the Shed by some distance, but thereafter the home side gained a foothold, with Lait in particular increasingly influential, drawing a foul three minutes in that brought a yellow card for Calum Flanagan and a free kick from Broadhurst that thumped into the wall.

Lait again ran at the Pitmen’s defence on 56 minutes but this time dragged a left-foot shot wide, and then Brown cleverly put a ball through for Benbow, whose shot was deflected wide. Stour were not quite dominant, though, and the visitors managed an effort of their own from Sammons, who fired straight at Gould from the edge of the area.

With 66 minutes played Lait cut in from the right and crossed for Brown, but the striker could not get high enough and his header was well over, whilst Benbow worked an opening to shoot on 74 minutes with Crane going down to his right to make a good save after the ball appeared to take a slight deflection, and Brown was judged to have fouled his man going for the loose ball. Benbow then saw a free kick deflected over the bar, and Lait turned inside from the left wing before clipping an effort that was always drifting just that bit too high.

With both sides tiring a little from what had been an energetic affair, it looked as though a point apiece would be the order of the day, but after Flanagan had shanked a shot wide five minutes from time from a promising position 20 yards out, it was the Pitmen who applied the coup de grace.

A half-cleared attack found Bramall in enough space out on the left to pick his man in the box, and the unmarked Carline swivelled neatly to volley past Gould and pinch the victory.