BOSTON UNITED (A - THE SKRILL NORTH)
P
ilgrims Dominant As
Pitmen Well Beaten
Boston United made up vital ground on
Hednesford Town after comfortably coming out on top
with a convincing win between two play-off chasing sides
at The Jakemans Stadium.
The first day of Spring brought warm sunshine to
Lincolnshire but dark clouds gathered over Hednesford's
promotion prospects as The Pitmen found themselves two
goals down within the first 15 minutes.
The Pilgrims had been reduced to nine men last week
against Harrogate Town inside the first quarter of the
game but this time round, thanks to some rather poor
Hednesford defending, the three points were wrapped up
very early on.
Despite a lively start from Charlie Anagho-Ntamark for the
away side, Ben Bailey gave away a penalty when Ricky
Miller drew a misjudged tackle from the defender and the
referee had no option but to point to the spot.
Miller picked himself up and superbly despatched the
penalty into the left hand corner despite Dan Crane
guessing the right way and the second goal came when a
simple cross was played in from the right where Scott
Garner jumped highest to loop a header over the helpless
goalkeeper.
The Pitmen were clearly rocked by conceding the two
early goals and, with Jamey Osborne targeted by the
Boston midfield to the tune of three yellow cards, Rob
Smith's men never really got a foothold in the game.
Anagho-Ntamark looked the likeliest to score, seeing a
half volley clawed away by Lewis King and shooting wide
shortly afterwards but the home side could have grabbed
a third goal when Miller forced a smart save from Crane
with a left-footed shot just before the break.
The key turning point in the match came after the interval
when Paul Sullivan replaced Marvin Robinson and from a
Jamey Osborne free kick on 48 minutes the former
Chasetown man had a superb chance to open his
Hednesford account.
Marvin Robinson's header was blocked on the line and as
the loose ball fell to Sullivan he slammed it against the
underside of the crossbar and clear of the goal.
That chance proved the closest Hednesford came to
reducing the deficit as only minutes later Boston raced
clear when John Disney lost a 50/50 tackle high up the
pitch, the ball fell to Liam Agnew who easily slotted the
ball past Crane to deflate the travelling Pitmen supporters.
Nathan Woolfe was introduced for the away side but the
inevitable fourth goal came on 79 minutes when substitute
Ben Milnes lashed a loose ball into the net after Ben Bailey
desperately blocked the initial shot.
The travelling Hednesford faithful commendably
applauded their players off the pitch, but they will know as
much as the management and squad that any more
defensive performances similar to this will prove a serious
obstacle to The Pitmen's hopes of promotion.
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