THE PITMEN WERE KINGS FOR A NIGHT IN NORTH-EAST

STEVE KING says ultra-prepared Hednesford Town executed their Gateshead gameplan to perfection as the Step 4 side continued their FA Cup fairytale.

- Matt Badcock

The NPL West Pitmen are the lowest ranked – and only side from their level – in the first round proper having kicked off in the extra preliminary round back in August.

And their epic journey took them to the northeast in midweek, where they shocked the National League high-flyers 3-1 in their own backyard.

Owen Oseni had given the Heed an early lead but Jack Bearne equalised before a quick-fire double after the break from Rob Stevenson and Sion Spence swung the tie for the underdogs.

It came after a 1-1 draw in the first tie and King couldn’t be prouder of how they performed on Tyneside in midweek.

Homework

“Sometimes you only get your one chance,” King told The NLP. “It’s a bit like our Shifnal and Rugby games in the FA Cup. We’ve gone there, drawn and then they’ve come to us and we’ve beaten them.

“So that was in the back of my head. We had two or three fantastic chances in the first half on Saturday and you think, ‘Are they going to come back to bite us?’