By Ethan Hoijord
Vauxhall Motors were held to a frustrating one-all draw away at lowly Hednesford Town, on Tuesday night.
Motors boss Danny Holmes made one change to his starting eleven, from Saturday’s 3-1 home win against Stalybridge Celtic, as the weekend’s brace scoring forward Bisensio Kamilo’s unavailability saw George Nugent start from the off.
There was a balanced start to the game at Keys Park. However, a number of good Vauxhall opportunities were squandered before Bobbie McDonnell struck past hosts keeper Ryan Brown in the 70th minute.
The Pitmen digged deep and ensured that they claimed a point late on as the persistent winger Jai Verma saw his efforts pay off.
Motorman Bobbie McDonnell spurned the first good opportunity of the night as he failed to connect with a good cross that Jay Harvey had sent into the box from the right, in the 19th minute.
Moments later, McDonnell touched the ball past keeper Brown but the Hednesford defence were able to clear their lines as they got back in numbers.
Little happened in the first half, in truth. Hednesford made a good start to the second, coming out after the break with purpose as they looked to back their victory against 1874 Northwich on the weekend.
Defender Josh Endall headed over a corner before striker Jake Jervis saw his effort saved well by by Motors stopper Jack Atkinson.
The game started to open up and McDonnell made no mistake in the 70th minute as he tapped the ball past Brown, who had came out in an attempt to clear danger, before firing into an empty net.
Feeling confident, the striker would soon fire from range. The attempt went close but he wouldn’t add on to his opening strike as he was soon replaced by Will Mountfield.
Vauxhall striker Jay Harvey could have doubled the scoreline, taking the game out of Paul Moore’s side’s reach, but he too failed to fire his shot on target, chipping the keeper before seeing the ball go out for a goal kick.
Hednesford’s Jai Verma ensured that his club’s survival hopes stayed alive, making Vauxhall regret the chances they had failed to convert, as he hit a sweet strike past Atkinson in the game’s dying moments.
Vauxhall are back in action on Saturday as Holmes’ men travel to Avro. Hednesford play host to league leaders Leek Town on the weekend.