HEDNESFORD Town boss Gav Hurren admitted he was ‘proud’ of his side’s run of results after opening up a 10-point cushion in the Northern Premier League West play-off spots.
A 2-0 win over Stalybridge Celtic made it 12 unbeaten for the Pitmen – and clinched a sixth successive clean sheet.
A sixth minute strike from Ahkeem Rose opened the scoring in front of 1,152 at Keys Park.
A second goal from Nathan Blissett, with 14 minutes left, settled the game. The result leaves Hednesford in third spot – nine points off leaders Widnes.
Hurren told the club’s official YouTube channel: “Stalybridge came with the game plan, which we’re finding each week at the minute, but credit to the boys – we got our goal early.
“I wasn’t happy at half-time, if I’m being honest, I thought with how we’ve played recently – it excites. And I thought this was a little bit flat first half, even though we came in 1-0, and the lads had to pick it up a bit. In the second half, we did a real professional performance and played some good stuff.
A crucial win in the battle for promotion as Hednesford make it 12 unbeaten in a clinical performance here at Keys Park🙌#HEDSTA
🔨⚫️ pic.twitter.com/QT5Jve7I7L
— Hednesford Town FC (@Hednesford_Town) March 8, 2025
“We know we need to keep winning games of football. We drive the standards within. And it was as straightforward as that.
“But I say most weeks, it’s a platform to try and be successful when you keep clean sheets and you’re hard to break down.
“For me, collectively as a whole unit, we work on it from the front all the way through. And it’s a nice feeling when you come away with the clean sheet, the 1-0s, the 2-0s, it’s great.
“And it’s got to be close to over 600 minutes now. I look at that, and I pride ourselves on it. I want teams to come and play us to know they’ve got to earn to score a goal, let alone win it.
“So we’ve got to keep it going. I’m really happy.”
But it was agony for Chasetown as they twice fought back at Widnes – only to lose the game late on.
A Sean Miller penalty put the leaders ahead after 18 minutes but Luke Yates equalised for the Scholars seven minutes after the break.
Harry McGee regained the lead for Widnes only for Yates to score again two minutes later.
A frantic spell saw three goals in the space of five minutes – and it set Chasetown up for a crucial point.
But Alex Cherera won it for Widnes with a minute to go.
