"Nailed it" - Kelvin Davis hails Hednesford Town side as they reach final

Kelvin Davis lauded his Hednesford Town side for executing their game plan to perfection as they marched into the play-off final.

The Pitmen swept past Stockton Town in front of another bumper crowd at Keys Park on Tuesday night to book their place in the Northern Premier League play-off final.

Hednesford are now bidding for back-to-back promotions via the play-offs and will host Warrington Rylands on Monday, with a place in the sixth tier of English football at stake.

“I thought we were really good,” said boss Davis. “We had a game plan, and the lads absolutely nailed it.

“We were so high in our intensity from the start to the finish. Our energy levels were so good, so I was really pleased with the performance.”

The Pitmen will be hoping for a repeat of last season, when they secured promotion via the play-offs on home soil.

Davis took charge earlier this year after the club parted ways with Gavin Hurren, who had guided them to promotion and into contention again this campaign.

Since his arrival, Davis has overseen a strong run of form, with Hednesford losing just one of their final 10 regular-season matches.

Montel Gibson and Ollie Harrison were on target in front of a crowd of 3,535 at Keys Park, firing the hosts past 10-man Stockton and into Monday’s Bank Holiday final.

Hednesford are now on the brink of a return to step two of the non-league pyramid - a level they last competed at during the 2015/16 season.

After missing out on the title by two points following a 3-3 draw with Ashton United last weekend, Davis was quick to praise his side’s response.

Asked whether the semi-final performance was an improvement, he added: “100 per cent. You always find this, sometimes you get it on a hot summer’s day, that is something we need to be aware of for Monday if the sun is out.

“You can get a bit of a lethargic feeling and it is a lot harder to run around in the sun than on an evening game which it was tonight. There’s a little bit of passion in the game as well.

“It was different circumstances with the game on Saturday. We knew what we needed to do and know that the stakes were high and it was a tough task

“Tonight was about us getting back to how we perform at home which we have done so well for so long and making it difficult for the opposition.

“We limited them to very little opportunities. I won’t talk too much about ours because there were probably too many to mention in terms of not taking the chances when they were there.

“But it was still great to have that much momentum, and it is another win at home.”