One question remains unanswered. Why is it that Heanor Town can play so well away but can’t seem to produce the goods on the Town Ground?
Bolstered by two new signings in the form of Ben Townsend in goal and Dan White in defence, the Lions swamped Dunkirk, who, apart from a brief spell in the middle of the first half, were chasing shadows all night.
Former Leek Town defender White and skipper Nick Hall were outstanding in a Heanor defence which for once locked out the best neighbours Dunkirk could throw at them. And, threading the ball forward between defenders who were totally bemused by the strong running of Andre Johnson and Jamie Clarke, supported on the flanks by Jay Cooper and Mark Smith, the Boatmen could simply find no answer.
Both sides won early corners, then, with barely three minutes on the clock, Cooper’s devastating through ball saw ANDRE JOHNSON outpace the home defence to strike the ball confidently beyond Tom Dudley. 90 seconds later and Johnson turned supplier. His corner being headed home unchallenged by the returning JAMIE CLARKE. And inside six minutes CLARKE had fired the rampant Lions three up as the shell shocked home defence were overawed by Heanor’s crisp passing.
Sinking Ship? Not quite. The Boatmen responded with their best spell of the game, debutant Ben Townsend being forced to show his undoubted quality with a fine save from Kieran Whalin’s free kick. On 21 minutes Danny Claridge’s tackle on David Webb saw outstanding whilstler Trevor Sharratt have no choice but to point to the spot. Ben Townsend stared hard at KIERAN WHALIN’s eyes, then went left. The Dunkirk man put his kick down the middle. Morale – next time lad, look at his feet not his eyes!
Dunkirk’s fleeting moment of pleasure in this game was over. Heanor’s bench asked midfield what they were doing, and the response was immediate. A great run and cross from Cooper went begging in front of goal; Clarke headed just over; Dudley then save a stinging drive from Johnson – just about all he did stop all night!; then Clarke beat him outside his area but as the goalkeeper recovered was grateful when the Heanor striker hit the ball straight at him.
Goal number four arrived on 41 minutes courtesy of Cooper’s great run and ANDRE JOHNSON’s fluffed finish which saw the ball bounce over the diving Dudley. There was still time for number five before the break. A Lions corner from the right saw Dudley flap, Nick Hall volleyed the ball back into the middle and JOE NAYLOR headed in.
Dunkirk retired to the safety of the dressing room to put some new pitchmastic onto the bottom of their sinking boat and to provide fresh oars in the form of substitutes Seymour and Bloomfield.
The second half saw Heanor just retain possession. Cooper tried to liven up the proceedings with a couple of great runs and Claridge cracked in a great shot which brought Dudley to his knees, but there was no one around to follow up.
Dunkirk found it extremely difficult to make progress although the boat, now repaired, did appear to be staying afloat a little better.
ANDRE JOHNSON completed his hat-trick with five minutes left, shooting home a Cooper flick on in a sweeping move started by substitute Ryan Booker. It might have been seven but for Dudley holding onto a fierce drive from Naylor as the game moved into its finale.
It was nice to come up against former Lion Lee Stevenson, who made in excess of 200 first team appearances for the Town Ground outfit, but even his enthusiasm couldn’t save the struggling Boatmen from a catastrophic defeaf.
GOALS: Heanor – Andre Johnson 3, 41, 85
Jamie Clarke 5, 6
Joe Naylor 44
Dunkirk - Kieran Whalin (penalty) 21
HEANOR TOWN: Townsend, Marriott, Claridge, Booth, Hall, White (Booker 80), Smith (Edridge 61), Naylor, Clarke (Benger 75), Johnson, Cooper.
REFEREE: Trevor Sharratt
CARDS: None
ATTENDANCE: 67
STAR LION: The entire team – but superbly marshalled by skipper Nick Hall.