Bradford PA 1 Hednesford Town 1
Hednesford Town had to settle for a point from their trip to Bradford Park Avenue, despite having the lead in the game for over 75 minutes.
On a bitterly cold afternoon at the Horsfall Stadium, it was the visitors who were quickest out of the blocks and they took the lead in just the third minute.
A good spell of Hednesford pressure saw the ball played wide to Tom James, whose pinpoint delivery was headed sweetly home by Adam Thomas.
The Hednesford midfield had started brightly, with a debut for new signing Jack Dyer and with Sean Williams and Andy Todd looking to get the ball forward at every opportunity.
Thomas, meanwhile, was working hard on the right side of the park to contain the Bradford winger Jason St Juste.
The home wide man was not showing too many adverse effects from the icy weather, having just returned from international duty in the Caribbean for St Kitts and Nevis.
Indeed St Juste came close with a couple of testing crosses during a busy first half.
However, it was not until the 38th minute that Town goalkeeper Dan Crane was called into action.
A well flighted free-kick from James Walshaw was tipped over the crossbar by the shot-stopper.
The home side came out with more purpose in the second half and an early corner was headed wide by Billy Priestly when a goal looked more likely.
This was quickly followed by an excellent double save by Crane, as he blocked two shots with his legs.
Hednesford continued to defend well as a team and counter attacking whenever an opportunity arose, with Thomas seeing an effort saved and Ben Bailey heading over the bar when well placed.
In the 69th minute, Ahmed Obeng looked to be pulled down in the penalty area, when through on goal but the referee waved away the appeals for a penalty.
While shortly afterwards, Todd put over a superb left-foot cross to substitute Kyle Perry but the striker could only direct his header over the bar.
In the 79th minute Bradford drew level though as after an initial corner was cleared it fell nicely to St Juste, who was on hand to control and fire a left-footed shot past Crane into the bottom corner.
The Pitmen came close to winning it in the final minutes with a Sean Williams effort going inches wide and another penalty appeal.
At the other end, a fierce Walshaw's free-kick was blocked by the wall and the follow up shot well saved by Crane. In the end, the Pitmen's resilience deserved a point.
