Hednesford Town 1 Trafford 1 - Report

A new look Pitmen squad with only three players left from last season, Tom Thorley, Jack Sang and player-manager Danny Glover, took to the field at Keys Park for the muchly anticipated season opener against Trafford. The visitors were already two games into their campaign, overcoming Golcar United 1-0 after a replay in the FA Cup.

The visitors took the lead in the fourth minute when Will Hall headed home from a dubiously awarded free kick. With Trafford playing a direct and physical brand of football, the Pitmen struggled to get a foothold in the game early on. Twenty minutes in the home side began to put together some good moves but were unable to break down the robust Trafford defence. Frustrations boiled over just before the half time when another contested refereeing decision led to Hednesford Town manager Danny Glover seeing red due to his comments to the assistant referee.

The Pitmen came out fired up for the second half, Star Mayemba beat two defenders before shooting over the crossbar. However the turning point came on the hour mark when Trafford's Harry Norris recieved his second booking for a trip on Rivel Mardenborough. The equaliser came nine minutes later when Hednesford skipper Sam Griffiths headed Jack Kelly's freekick past Bradley Rose in the Trafford goal. Despite dominating possession for the remainder of the game the Pitmen were unable to break down the resilient Trafford rearguard action, although Mayemba, Mardenborough and Dixon all went close.

Hednesford Town; Crane, Mendez-Jones, Kelly, Martin, Williams, Griffiths, Bower (Dixon 72), Thorley, Mardenborough, Mayemba, Sang (Forbes 63) Subs not used; Andrews, Paddock, Richards.

Trafford; Rose, Brown, Ford, Norris, Hall, Sloan, Rhami (Rhami 72), Belcher, Bentham, Burke (Sandison 66), Dorney. Subs not used; Jordan, Solomon, Babakhani.

Star Man Sam Griffiths

Entertainment 3