Hednesford Town WLWDWL 3rd v Coalville Town DWWLWL 4th
And so to the PRG Stadium,
otherwise known as Keys Park, and the FA Trophy 3rd Qualifying Round for
an all Southern League Premier Central clash between Hednesford Town
FC and Coalville Town FC.
Hednesford Town FC was
established in 1880 as a merger of the Red & Whites (who were also known as
West Hill) and Hill Top. Based at the Anglesey Hotel, they were sometimes
known as Hednesford Anglesey. The
club was a founder member of the Birmingham & District League in 1889
but left the league in 1891 and played only friendly matches before
joining the Walsall & District Junior League in 1894.
In 1908 the Pitmen joined the
Birmingham Combination, which they won in 1909–10. After World War I the
club rejoined the Birmingham & District League, before withdrawing
from the league during the 1937–38 season and folding. The newly
reformed club reverted to the Birmingham & District League for
the 1938–39 season.
After World War II Hednesford
rejoined the Birmingham Combination. They
won the league in 1950–51 and then returned to the Birmingham &
District League, which became the West Midlands (Regional) League. In 1972
they joined the Midland League and in 1984 after finishing as runners-up,
the club moved up to the Midland Division of the Southern League.
Promotion in the 1991/92
season to the Premier Division and reaching the final of the Welsh
Cup (!), losing 1–0 to Cardiff City, followed. They won the Beazer Homes
Premier Division in 1994/95, achieving promotion to the GM Vauxhall Football
Conference at their new Keys Park home, finishing third in their first
season. Notable FA Cup giantkillings of Blackpool, York City, Hull City
and Barnet prefaced relegation in 2001 and then FA Trophy success in 2004,
winning the competition with a 3–2 victory over Canvey Island at Villa
Park. The following season play off success saw a return to the Conference
North.
Hednesford finished bottom of
the Conference North in 2006, resulting in an immediate relegation to the
Premier Division of the Northern Premier League. Flitting between lateral
transfers to and from Northern and Southern Premier Leagues and
failed play off campaigns, the Pitmen finally won promotion back to the
Conference North in 2013 but were again relegated in 2016 to the Northern
Premier League, finishing 13th of 21 last season and then moving last
summer back to the Southern League as part of the pyramid restructure.
The visitors, Coalville Town
FC, are from the Mander Cruickshank Solicitors Stadium, aka the Owen
Street Sports Ground, and were established as Ravenstone Miners Athletic
in 1926. The Ravens were originally based in the village of Ravenstone, joining
the Coalville & District League and undertaking a record journey
of name changes. The club was renamed Ravenstone Swifts in 1947 and then
back to Ravenstone Miners Athletic in 1951.
They won the Division One title five times before, in 1958, the
club was renamed Ravenstone FC. The
Ravens then joined the Premier Division of the North Leicestershire League in
1974 going on to win the Premier Division in 1988–89 and 1989–90, and
moved up to Division One of the Leicestershire Senior League in 1991.
In 1995 the club moved to
nearby Coalville after being unable to upgrade their Ravenslea ground, and was
renamed Coalville Football Club. In 1996–97 they finished second in Division
One and were promoted to the Premier Division. The club adopted their current
name in 1998 and, after winning the Premier Division in 2001–02
and 2002–03, were promoted to the Midland Alliance. They were league
runners-up in 2009–10, and the following season saw them reach the final of the
FA Vase, losing 3–2 to Whitley Bay at Wembley, but that disappointment was
tempered by winning the Midland Alliance, scoring 153 goals in the process and
earning promotion to Division One South of the Northern Premier League.
After two unsuccessful play off campaigns, they defeated the now defunct Shaw Lane Aquaforce 3-1 in the final in 2016 to earn promotion, moving laterally in 2018 to the Premier Division of the Southern League Central, and finishing 6th last time around.
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So past Altrincham Library
and the Eudaemonium ,'The Living Book', aka Council Vanity Project, then
Papa Chino and Barberian, Moonchild Tattoo and Holly's Folly to the M6.
Not long before the first registration C T0 5OOT (chimney sweep - brilliant ☺), then a van shouting 'Live Life On
The Veg' (greengrocer in case you need to ask !!) and 111 OAP (surely all
pensioners get ill at some point !) and 3KED (out ?)....
En route, queues for
'Christmas at Dunham Massey' and its excellent light trail, then Smart Motorway,
distracting bridge signs before hitting the A5, Watling Street, then the
A460 and Cannock Chase before turning off on Hemlock Way. Keys Park
is just beyond the Cross Keys roundabout, opposite a business park and adjacent
to the new Cherry Blossom housing development, on Keys Park Road.
I refuse to pay the £2 car
park fee (tightwad !!), stopping in another new estate five minutes away
(I'm not alone !!), and then it's £11 in to a modernised PRG Stadium built for
better things and times... The Main Stand houses the Chase Suite and Strikers
Bar, and 710 seats; opposite is the covered Wimblebury Terrace. To my right is
the covered Heath Hayes End terrace, with the opposing Hednesford End
hosting 301 seats alongside a disabled dugout and the club shop. With an
overall capacity of 6,039 today's attendance of 354 plus one dog reveals the
true extent of the stadium with huge spaces on the
terraces reflecting the sparsity of the crowd - most of whom are
huddled in the Main Stand.
A sign as the players enter
the field announces 'Grass grows in inches. Feet kill it. Please keep off the
pitch.' Hednesford are in white and black, Coalville in change all yellow - the
sides are led out by mascot Pitman Pete.
Coalville start the much
better, hungrier (more Ravenous ?? !) with Kalern Thomas having a shot pushed
away by Andy Wycherley who is injured in the process. Shortly after a one two
between Luke Shaw and Tom McGlinchey sets Shaw free but he chooses, greedily,
to shoot wide, instead of squaring to Grenadan international Kairo Mitchell who
has an open goal to aim at.
Thereafter Mitchell has a
shot bravely saved, full on, by Wycherley and McGlinchey fizzes one just over
the bar. For the hosts Andre Brown brings a good save from Ravens' keeper Saul
Deeney but it's the Ravens who are flying....
Then, a minute before half
time, a break from the Pitmen, Brown is fouled, the referee plays a good
advantage as he manages to lay off to Danny Glover, whose perfect cross to the
far post is headed back across Deeney by unmarked Jack Hallahan into the
opposite corner; Hednesford lead 1-0 at the interval.
In the swirling mist and
teeming rain, the goal buoys the Pitmen and in truth Coalville hardly get going
in the second period so after Deeney saves well from Brown it's no surprise
that the home side extend their advantage. On the hour a free kick is played to
Ben O'Hanlon and his deep cross is met by home skipper Ben Bailey whose header
is again directed back across Deeney, nudging the inside of the far post before
nestling in the net for 2-0.
The Pitmen then manage the
game well, retaining possession and stymieing the Ravens' now
impotent attack. Brown has an overhead kick wide as the game draws to its
conclusion.
But then Coalville substitute
Tim Berridge scores with three minutes to play, tucking smartly into the bottom
right hand corner and, as the small enclave of away supporters (A
murder of ravens? An unkindness of ravens? A congress of ravens? Or simply
a horde of ravens? You take your pick !! ) begin to believe, it's game on.
A succession of corners,
Wycherley flapping at one which is diverted just beyond the post, and then the
Ravens' final chance: Berridge's fierce strike is deflected over by a
magnificent block by Bailey and Hednesford go through to a first
round home tie with Chester.
