By Liam Price
Hednesford made it 2 wins out of 2 in the league with a 2-0 over Nantwich Town at the Swansway Stadium.
The Dabbers made just 1 change from the opening day defeat to Bootle, with Eddie Servuts in for his first start for the club in place of Tom Reilly.
The Pitmen started strongly with Jack Bearne testing Ben Garratt just 3 minutes in. That was easy for Garratt, but Bearne’s next effort only 2 minutes after that was much more successful.
A simple ball down the right channel was missed by players from both sides rising to try and head it and this allowed Bearne to run through, past Garratt who was in no man’s land charging off his line, and roll it into an empty net. A terrible Nantwich start to match the terrible weather.
But Nantwich responded well and should have equalised minutes later. A Cole Lonsdale corner arced onto the head of Courtney Meppen-Walters who met it well but a combination of the feet of keeper Jack Rose and a defender somehow managed to stop it going over the line.
A slick Dabbers move created the next chance. Matty Tweedley read a Pitmen pass in midfield and intercepted, feeding it to Byron Harrison who saw the run of Kai Evans. Evans ran around the ball to shoot with his right foot, perhaps telegraphing to Rose where he was going to hit it. It was a still a good save to turn away the attempt that was headed for the corner of the net.
Manny Duku shot straight at Garratt but it was Nantwich who were on top for the majority of that first half. Misplaced passes and rushed sliced clearances were signs that the Pitmen were feeling the pressure.
However, at the start of the second half it was clear they had composed themselves and conceivably could have doubled their lead in the early stages. Omar Holness unleashed a powerful strike that Garratt had to shovel behind in the difficult conditions.
A clearer chance fell the way of Duku not long after but he dragged it across the goal when it looked easier to score.
Rose pushed behind a Harrison header that took off off the wet surface before another Duku miss saw him subbed for last season’s NPL West Golden Boot winner Rob Stevenson.
A ball across the face of the Hednesford goal could have been turned in by someone in green had they been willing to gamble; this is becoming a trend from these first couple of games.
Hednesford got their decisive second goal on 77 minutes. It came in a confusing but ultimately brilliant way. A challenge between Lonsdale and Bearne in the box saw Bearne flop to the floor, play continued but Nantwich made a mess of clearing the ball and it came to Sion Spence on the edge of the box, who took one or two touches to control and another to curl it across Garratt into the top corner. That’s the second Goal of the Month contender Nantwich have conceded in two games.
The game was pretty much over then as a contest. But there was one more dramatic moment on 85 minutes as Jake Jervis was shown a straight red card for Hednesford. It was unclear what had happened in real time as it was not for something that had gone on during play. But it was reported later that the red was for foul and abusive language.
It was too late in the game to ultimately make any difference, though. Stevenson went close with a low zipper and Meppen-Walters had a shot blocked in the final exchanges, but it was Hednesford’s day and may well be their season, Paul Carden describing them afterwards as ‘the best side I’ve seen at this level.’
Just take a look at their goalscorers. Jack Bearne is a Liverpool academy graduate and was playing in the Scottish Championship last season and Sion Spence is a Wales under-21 international and played in National League South last season. The first two fixtures for the Dabbers looked very tough on paper and have proved that in reality, but Carden spoke afterwards of the green shoots for the boys in green ahead of what on paper is a less brutal run of upcoming games.
The next home game for Nantwich is against Wythenshawe FC on Saturday 24th August at 3pm.
Teams
Nantwich Town: Ben Garratt, James Melhado, Cole Lonsdale, Troy Bourne, Courtney Meppen-Walters, Kelvin Mellor, Joel Connolly, Matty Tweedley, Byron Harrison (Callum Saunders, 78), Eddie Servuts, Kai Evans
Subs not used: Paddy Kennedy, Eric Merner, Jon Moran, Tom Reilly
Hednesford Town: Jack Rose, Blaine Rowe, Joel Taylor, Kory Roberts, Elliott Johnson, Omar Holness (Abdulrasaq Alamu-Tajudeen, 87), Jack Bearne (Daniel Sparkes, 81), Sion Spence, Manny Duku (Rob Stevenson, 60), Jake Jervis, Daniel Trickett-Smith
Subs not used: Zidan Sutherland, Dominic McHale
Goals: Bearne (5), Spence (77)
Red card: Jervis (85)
Attendance: 498