Well, we at least feel much, much better entering this game on Saturday against Hednesford Town FC than we did at this point last week, coming off a drubbing by Chorley and desperately needing a win against Brackley Town on the weekend. Thankfully, a win is exactly what we got and, because of that, I think we can all agree that we are in a much better mood than we were a week ago.

Aiming to keep that good feeling going, our boys travel to old foe Hednesford Town FC on Saturday 3PM. The game will be live on FCUM Radio and, of course, on Twitter for those of you who can’t be in attendance or listening on the radio but who still want to know how the game goes. The goal on Saturday has to be to build on the momentum from last week and to keep the winning form going and, as a nice little historical plus, pick up the first ever road win in FC United’s Conference North history.

However, before we begin with all of the prognosticating and trying to figure out what will happen on Saturday, we should probably first know a little bit about Hednesford Town FC, don’t you think?

The Pitmen, as they are known, were founded in 1880 (as you will note on their crest) following the merger of two local clubs, Red & Whites and Hill Top. For the first century of their existence, Hednesford Town plyed their trade in local leagues before moving to the Southern League in 1984. Following this move, though, their fortunes did not change much for the better until 1990.

With the team struggling mightily and staring relegation back to the local leagues square in the face, the club appointed former goalkeeper John Baldwin as manager. In addition to saving the club from relegation, he guided them to promotion the following season after they finished second in the league.

In the 1993-1994 season, their first in the Southern League Premier Division, the team finished fourth, before they won the title in the 1994-1995 season, gaining promotion to the Conference, in which they finished third in the 1995-1996 season. This period of success in the mid-1990s was also coupled with cup success, as the team made repeated visits to the FA Cup proper and also competed in four straight local cup finals.

However, after John Baldwin stepped down in December 2000, the team was relegated for the first time in their history. The misfortune continued as, in the 2003-2004 season, despite the team winning the FA Trophy, manager Barry Powell was fired as the Pitmen failed to qualify for the newly created Conference North. The very next season, under new management, promotion was finally achieved to Conference North.

The Pitmen’s stay in Conference North was short lived, though, as they were relegated the very next year, despite reaching the first round of the FA Cup again. As life continued in the Northern Premier League, the 2010-2011 season was one for the record books for Hednesford Town. When Rob Smith was appointed manager in late September, the club went on a record breaking run driving the Pitmen into the promotion conversation. However, the season ended in heartbreak as the Pitmen, despite their record breaking run in the midseason, which included nine straight victories, narrowly missed out on promotion.

After a league restructuring, Hednesford Town were transferred to the Northern Premier League Premier Division for the 2011-2012 season, where they narrowly missed out on promotion as they finished 5th, just outside of a playoff position. Hednesford finally earned their way back to Conference North in the 2012-2013 season (where they beat our boys in the Playoff Final, I should note) and finished fourth in the the league the very next season, missing out on promotion thanks to a loss in the playoffs.

They finished 8th in Conference North last year.

So where will we be playing on Saturday? I’m glad you asked.

Keys Park is the third home for the Pitmen, they started life at the Tins and stayed there until 1903 when they moved to The Cross Keys which was the club’s home until 1995 when they moved to Keys Park, located just 300 yards away from The Cross Keys.

Keys Park, it must be said, is one of the best stadiums in the league. Originally, capacity was set at 3,500 but after some more development the ground now holds 6,039 fans with several A-rated football facilities. It truly is an impressive ground for this level of football.

So have we played there before? How have we performed? You bet we have, including a tough 2-1 loss in the 2013 Playoff Final. Along with that loss, we also lost to Hednesford Town in the league during the 2012-2013 season at Keys Park, meaning we are riding a two game losing streak at the stadium. Overall, we have a record of one win, one draw, and two losses at Keys Park.

Well that’s all well and good, but how have Hednesford Town looked this season? It has to be said that the Pitmen have been a bit disappointing this year as they currently sit in 13th position, with 5 points compared to our 4. However, I would argue that the points and position are a bit misleading as their last two games, after two disappointing losses, have been strong draws with Cordby Town and North Ferriby United, two strong sides.

So what should happen on Saturday? We are riding a wave of confidence, I would believe, after a strong performance last week but we are facing a challenging trip to a club we know well and a club that is capable of a strong performance, as you just read. This is a tricky fixture and I think we can expect a tough task but it is not an impossible one. A good result is needed here to keep building on what happened last Saturday and that is exactly what we will be looking to happen on Saturday.

Of course, though we are ever the optimist, we also release that achieving a result in this fixture on Saturday will require our boys at their absolute best. This is a critical point in the season, already, as we look to keep heading in the right direction and we have every faith that our boys will be able to put together a strong performance on Saturday and build off of the win against Brackley Town FC.