By Ashley Houghton
A spirited second-half performance earned Nantwich Town their first home point in four games.
Jimmy Quinn’s men went level with second placed Marine after a hard-fought 1-1 draw at home to Hednesford.
Christian Smith equalised ten minutes from time for Nantwich after Elliott Durrell had given The Pitmen the lead on the half-hour.
It was also a night to welcome back former Dabbers stalwarts Michael Lennon and Dave MacPherson back to the Weaver Stadium.
Quinn had the luxury of naming an unchanged side from Saturday’s 2-1 win at Whitby Town as the returning Chris Flynn made the bench.
The Dabbers felt they should have had a penalty after just four minutes when Josh Lane broke in behind John Disney and looked to have been bundled over by the Hednesford man but referee, Mark Duncan, ruled the challenge to have been fair.
MacPherson and Lennon both caused problems for their former team-mates. MacPherson went close when his 20 yard strike was saved by Jon Brain.
Kyle Wilson then missed a glorious opportunity for Nantwich on the quarter hour as a delightful pass from Fraser McLachlan found the former Bangor City front man before he chipped the ball wide of Dan Crane’s right hand post.
Hednesford took the lead on 29 minutes as Durrell whipped his 20-yard free-kick across the area and into the bottom corner as The Dabbers failed to clear at the near post.
Nantwich’s leading scorer Sean Cooke was closest to finding the reply in the first-half as his left footed shot clipped the bar after Lewis Short had played the former Crewe Alex youth in.
The Pitmen thought they had won it with 15 minutes to go as Lennon broke in behind the defence.
After a goal-mouth scramble, he shot towards goal only for the ball to hit strike partner Aaron Rey on the line who was in an offside position so the goal was ruled out.
And it took just two minutes for Nantwich to grab the equaliser as Mat Bailey headed Cooke’s corner back across goal and Smith nodded past Crane from six yards.
Lennon broke the offside trap again and looked certain to score one-on-one with Brain but the former Macclesfield stopper produced a fine save.
McLachlan and Wilson combined again for what looked to be the match winner as the latter found space behind the Hednesford back line and chipped over Crane only for defender Francino Francis to slide the ball off the line as it was just about to cross.
Nathan Woolfe blasted a late free-kick over for the visitors but Nantwich held firm and now look to extend their unbeaten run to four when they visit Eastwood Town on Saturday.
Nantwich: Brain, Moss (Flynn, 62), McDonald, Maguire (Hughes, 64), Bailey ©, Smith, Cooke, McLachlan, Lane (Beesley, 77), Wilson, Short. Subs: Foster, Jones.
(All pictures courtesy of Simon J Newbury Photography)
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