Reds ready for tough test against high-flying Hednesford
FC United welcome second placed Hednesford Town to Gigg Lane on Saturday afternoon knowing that the Pitmen will provide a stern test of our promotion ambitions.
The Reds are coming off the back of an impressive, hard fought win at Chasetown last weekend and they will want to take another three points against the Scholars’ near neighbours. However, Hednesford are riding high and are joint top of the table on points, second on goal difference behind Chester.
And with Stafford Rangers and Chasetown already claiming victories at Gigg Lane this season, the Reds will want to make sure that they don’t fall victim to a hat-trick by the Evo-Stik Northern Premier Division’s Staffordshire sides.
The two sides have met before but due to Hednesford’s location, fewer than 20 miles north of Birmingham, the Pitmen are often moved between the northern and the southern leagues depending on the composition of the divisions each year. As such, despite not gaining promotion or relegation, they haven’t been in FC United’s league for the last three seasons.
When Hednesford were last in the Northern Premier Division in the 2008/09 season, the teams just had the standard two league fixtures against each other with United holding the upper-hand. A 3-0 victory at Gigg Lane in November 2008 courtesy of two goals from Kyle Wilson and one from Jerome Wright was complemented with a 2-2 draw in the return fixture at Keys Park when Simon Garner scored a superb injury-time equaliser.
Since then, Hednesford have been plying their trade in the Southern Premier Division and just like FC United they missed out on promotion to the Conference League last season in the play-off final, though their heartache against Salisbury City was arguably worst as it came via a penalty shoot-out.
With these type of credentials, the Pitmen are certainly a side to be reckoned with and manager Karl Marginson is looking forward to testing his side against them. He said: “Hednesford are one of the league’s top sides and Saturday’s game will be a real test of our potential to gain promotion from this division.
“But if we play like we’re capable of then we are a match for anyone in this division, I’m certain of that. We come into the match on a high after a good win at Chasetown on Saturday. We deserved to be up at the break and were particularly happy with James Spencers’ excellent penalty save as we didn’t believe it should have been awarded in the first place. We were all relieved to see another penalty converted by Dean Stott after our woeful record from the spot. The clean-sheet was very pleasing too.???
FC United expect to have all the squad available for selection, other than Lee Neville who must now serve a four game suspension after being sent off for the second time this season two weeks ago at North Ferriby.
FC United of Manchester versus Hednesford Town is this Saturday with kick-off at the traditional time of three o’clock. It’s pay on the gate with the usual prices, £8 for adults, £5 for concessions and just £2 for under-18s. Get yourself to that football ground.
The Reds are coming off the back of an impressive, hard fought win at Chasetown last weekend and they will want to take another three points against the Scholars’ near neighbours. However, Hednesford are riding high and are joint top of the table on points, second on goal difference behind Chester.
And with Stafford Rangers and Chasetown already claiming victories at Gigg Lane this season, the Reds will want to make sure that they don’t fall victim to a hat-trick by the Evo-Stik Northern Premier Division’s Staffordshire sides.
The two sides have met before but due to Hednesford’s location, fewer than 20 miles north of Birmingham, the Pitmen are often moved between the northern and the southern leagues depending on the composition of the divisions each year. As such, despite not gaining promotion or relegation, they haven’t been in FC United’s league for the last three seasons.
When Hednesford were last in the Northern Premier Division in the 2008/09 season, the teams just had the standard two league fixtures against each other with United holding the upper-hand. A 3-0 victory at Gigg Lane in November 2008 courtesy of two goals from Kyle Wilson and one from Jerome Wright was complemented with a 2-2 draw in the return fixture at Keys Park when Simon Garner scored a superb injury-time equaliser.
Since then, Hednesford have been plying their trade in the Southern Premier Division and just like FC United they missed out on promotion to the Conference League last season in the play-off final, though their heartache against Salisbury City was arguably worst as it came via a penalty shoot-out.
With these type of credentials, the Pitmen are certainly a side to be reckoned with and manager Karl Marginson is looking forward to testing his side against them. He said: “Hednesford are one of the league’s top sides and Saturday’s game will be a real test of our potential to gain promotion from this division.
“But if we play like we’re capable of then we are a match for anyone in this division, I’m certain of that. We come into the match on a high after a good win at Chasetown on Saturday. We deserved to be up at the break and were particularly happy with James Spencers’ excellent penalty save as we didn’t believe it should have been awarded in the first place. We were all relieved to see another penalty converted by Dean Stott after our woeful record from the spot. The clean-sheet was very pleasing too.???
FC United expect to have all the squad available for selection, other than Lee Neville who must now serve a four game suspension after being sent off for the second time this season two weeks ago at North Ferriby.
FC United of Manchester versus Hednesford Town is this Saturday with kick-off at the traditional time of three o’clock. It’s pay on the gate with the usual prices, £8 for adults, £5 for concessions and just £2 for under-18s. Get yourself to that football ground.
First Posted ~ 22:13 Sun 29 Jan 2012
News ID ~ 4020
Last Updated ~ 00:47 Tue 16 Feb 2021