PITMEN KEEP DIGGING AS UNBEATEN RUN REACHES NINE
HEDNESFORD Town made it nine games unbeaten as they fought back to defeat Farsley Celtic on a wet and miserable day at Throstle Nest.
Goals from Joe Fitzpatrick, Danny Glover and James Lawrie saw Hednesford take the three points despite Ben Atkinson’s early opener, leaving the Pitmen’s manager Rob Smith delighted.
“I’m delighted, Farsley are a good side, we’ve been starting games poorly which we did again today.,” he said.
“The key to the game was getting the goal before half-time, and then we came on strong in the second half.
“We stood off Farsley in the first-half but got tighter in the second half, the lads have put a great shift in and it’s one of the most difficult places to come.
“So to get a win is great. We’re enjoying the ride at the moment and we’ll see where it takes us.”
Farsley started the game superbly and visiting shot-stopper James Wren had to be at his best to deny Isaac Baldwin and then Adam Clayton, before Farsley broke through in just the sixth minute.
Paul Walker was at the centre of a brilliant team move and he slipped the ball through to Ben Atkinson who rounded Wren and slotted home into the empty net for the early advantage.
Despite Farsley’s first-half dominance, Hednesford drew level in added time, the referee playing an excellent advantage which allowed Joe Fitzpatrick to fire past Graeme McKibbin.
That goal proved to be a key turning point in the game as Hednesford started to stamp their authority over the midfield after the interval.
Arguably, their lead was deserved when Jordan Graham led the counter and whipped in an excellent cross for Danny Glover to head home.
The three points were wrapped up in injury time, as James Lawrie hassled Lewis Turner, and stole the ball off the Farsley defender before rounding McKibbin and finishing comfortably.
With this result severely denting Farsley’s play-off hopes, a frustrated Adam Lakeland knows they only have themselves to blame at times.
He said: “We’re making it harder for ourselves, we’ve been performing well and I’d say we played well but errors cost us.
“We’re drawing too many games this season and now we’ve lost ten, a lot of which have been closely contested.
“Ultimately, we’ve conceded too many goals, I’ve been saying it all season, the buck stops with me, I’m the manager and it’s my job to rectify it.
“We’ve got to find a solution and we’ll have to be on top, top form in our remaining games.” STAR MAN: James Wren (Hednesford) ENTERTAINMENT: ★★★★★