PITMEN POUNCE AS VALLEY RELEGATED

It was most definitely a Bank Holiday to forget for Valley on Easter Monday afternoon, as they fell to their heaviest defeat of an increasingly woeful season to-date at Keys Park.

By Jon Venner.

Despite the multitude to choose from, this was surely the worst performance of the campaign, with the Pitmen outplaying and out-battling a visibly weary Rugby side in all departments.

The ever reliable Town keeper Andy Stevens did at least keep the score down to a certain level of respectability, as a rampaging Hednesford kept their outside chance of a play-off place alive in the process.

After a scrappy start to the game, home winger Dorryl Proffitt was too good for Chris Hollist out wide, and he found Tyrone Barnett in a great position in the penalty area, but the striker could only poke his effort wide of the goal.

Barnett was then denied by a superb parried save from Stevens, after Elliott Durrell’s cross field pass had expertly picked him out.

The deserved breakthrough came on 16 minutes when Durrell and Matt Wood combined well, to allow Durrell to strike the ball on the turn into the corner of the net.

Apart from a couple of efforts from Matt Gearing – one of which Hednesford keeper Stuart Brock tipped over the bar and another which he caught comfortably – Rugby created little of note, and Hednesford added their second five minutes before the half-time interval when Barnett easily tapped in Durell’s low cross at the back post.

Matt Brown should have made some contact to James Farrow’s cross in the lead-up to the break, but it was just after the restart that Valley spurned their best opportunity of grasping a lifeline when David Kolodynski rounded Brock, but then saw his shot hacked off the line by Ben Bailey.

There was only one team in it from that point on, with Barnett heading home Bailey’s cross on 50 minutes and then substitute Ross Dyer also scoring with his head after Barnett had flicked on Bailey’s long throw.

Barnett completed his hat-trick for the Pitmen’s fifth from the penalty spot, after Karl Fellows had handled Durrell’s shot on the line – which also saw the Rugby player red carded for the offence.

Dyer wrapped up the scoring with his second of the game when he shot beyond Stevens in the dying moments of the game.

Rugby Town: Stevens; Tullin, Hollist, Love, Castleton; Farrow, Gearing, Youngs, Fellows; Brown (Kwegyir), Kolodynski. Subs not used: Bell, Richards. Booked: None. Sent off: None.

Hednesford: Brock, Platt, Wood, Bailey, Francis, Gomes, Durrell, Craddock, Barnett, Proffitt, McGurk. Subs: Dyer, Martin, Flynn, Clements, Gibson.