Redditch United 0 Hednesford Town 2.

Redditch United’s torrid FA Cup history continued as they again bowed out at the opening stage of the competition.

Cup runs are a rarity at the Valley Stadium club and a quickfire double midway through the first half from visitors Hednesford ensured it will be another 12 months at least before they have a chance of putting that right.

With the Pitmen flying high in the Evo-Stik Northern Premier League, this was always going to be a big ask for the Reds. And the task was made even tougher by injuries and players being cup tied, a sad state of affairs that prompted managers Graham Hyde and Mark Fenemore to hand a debut to on loan Walsall striker Connor Deards.

In fact the new arrival almost made the perfect start when he pounced on a mistake by Hednesford defender Cheyenne Dunkley only for his shot to be gathered by visiting keeper Danny Crane.

That was as close as the home side were to get to finding the net in the first half. In contrast, the Pitmen netted with each of their chances before the break.

The opener came on 17 minutes. Livewire winger Elliott Durrell found space on the right and his inch perfect cross was calmly turned home on the half volley by former Redditch striker Gary Hay.

It was 2-0 just five minutes later with Hay this time the provider.

The frontman rolled the ball to Chris Clements on the edge of the area and although his shot lacked pace, it still managed to squirm through the legs of United keeper Dean Coleman.

Lee Osborne and Deards put efforts either over the target or into the side-netting late in the half as Redditch looked for a foothold in the game. But the second half saw them struggle as their visitors successfully closed the game out.

Hednesford’s Jay Denny mopped up anything loose in midfield while giant central defenders Dunkley and Pedro Monteiro denied the United strikers a sniff of the ball.

Denny and Durrell fired efforts at the Redditch keeper early in the half and Dunkley looked certain to make it 3-0 when he rose to power a header goalwards from a Jamey Osborne corner only for the ball to strike Michael Nottingham in front of goal.

Adam Wood cleared the target with a header as the home side finally began to pose a threat but their best chances came deep in injury time when a Hednesford victory was all but certain.

Crane was forced into a fine low save after a shot from Reds substitute Josh McKenzie had deflected off Monteiro.

And the Hednesford keeper was in action again in the 92nd minute, blocking a close-range shot from Cameron Jones.

With the Birmingham Senior Cup trip to Stratford Town on Tuesday postponed due to the Midland Alliance side’s FA Cup replay, the Reds will be hoping to bounce back from this defeat when they head to Frome Town on Saturday.

Reds: Coleman 5, Ager 5, Wood 6, WARMER 7, Nottingham 6, Robinson 6, Jones 6, Moses-Garvey 5 (Knott 62, 6), Deards 7, Harris 5 (McKenzie 73), Osborne 6 (Dinsmore 67, 6). Subs (not used): Chambaud, Bedford, Clarke, Sweeney.