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| August 2007 | |
| Monday 27th August | |
| Moors woe for Hinckley | |
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Hinckley United lost to a late goal at the Marston Stadium. Solihull Moors took
the points on their first visit after a defensive error gifted the win. This result
leaves Hinckley firmly rooted in the relegation zone. Click here for: Solihull Moors match details |
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| Saturday 25th August | |
| Uniteds are all square | |
Hinckley United made their first trip to York Street, Boston, and came away with
a deserved point in a 1-1 draw. Hinckley fielded new signing, the returning defender
Andy Penny, but his game lasted only one half as the centre half injury curse struck
again. In what was an open and keenly contested game, sometimes very 'keenly' by
Rich Lavery, play switched from one end of the pitch to the other with both sides
guilty of wasting chances. Hinckley had the first chance after 5 minutes with a
Neil Cartwright free kick on the left of the area, played square for Lee Philpott
to shoot from 20 yards and Chris Wright to tip over the bar. Colin Marrison followed
this up with a glancing header wide, then on 22 minutes Marrison ran in on goal
from the left and his 20 yard shot was easily saved by Wright. Dominic Roma was
in the right place on 25 minutes when Jon Froggat was allowed to run on Boston's
left, his cross then ran across the face of the goal to the far right, where Lee
Thompson fired goalwards only to see Roma block his shot and clear for a corner.
On the half hour Marrison again wasted another chance with a free header over the
bar from a Cartwright cross from the left. However, Matt O'Halloran wasted the best
opportunity of the game for Boston on 35 minutes when he was in acres of space
unmarked on the back post when the ball came to him from as Clarke cross and he
somehow ballooned the ball over the bar from close range. Just before half time
Jon Stevenson tried his luck from long range, and again Wright got easily behind
the ball. It was also just before half time when the central defence curse reared
it's ugly head again as Andy Penny was forced to leave the pitch with a calf injury.
Hinckley played the 3 minutes till half time with 10 men, but Penny was unable to
continue after the break and was replaced by Tom Birch for the second half. Stevenson
started the second half as he finished the first, with the ball on the edge of the
area, a jink past one defender and a shot at goal. The outcome was also the same
with Wright comfortably saving. Boston now began a period of 30 minutes where they
dominated possession and dictated the game. On 50 minutes from a Hinckley corner
Boston broke away and Matt O'Halloran ran down the right wing, cut inside, beat
the defender and was one on one with Bowles. The midfielder placed his shot low
to Bowles right, but he managed to get down to make the save. This was followed
up with a Boston free kick played diagonal to the left, then crossed central for
Jon Froggatt to volley over the bar. On the hour a rare break from Hinckley saw
Philpott cross deep from the right to the back post where Cartwright's volley was
on target, but brilliantly turned away by Chris Wright. With Boston having so much
possession it was only a matter of time before they took the lead and this they
did in the 70th minute. An excellent 3 man move by Boston in the left corner resulted
in a cross to the back post for Jon Froggatt, unmarked, to simply head home with
Bowles stranded. This had the effect of shaking Hinckley out of their slumber and
finished the match with their own 15 minute period of dominance. Hinckley forced a
succession of corners and Boston managed to clear the danger everytime. Owen Story,
on as a substitute, was managing to cross from the right more frequently but no one
could provide a finishing touch. Hinckley eventually equalised through an excellent
solo goal from Jon Stevenson. With 5 minutes remaining, Shilton played an early
ball from defence on the left and Stevenson ran onto it, took it past two defenders,
cut inside and shot from 15 yards. Even though Wright got a hand to the ball, it
was too strong and the ball hit the corner of the net to level the scores. Hinckley
had one last chance to nick it in the final minute when Owen Story again got in his
cross, but no Hinckley player managed to finish the move and the ball crossed the
face of goal and away to safety before the ref blew the final whistle. A 1-1 draw
was fair on the balance of play with the first half being very open and the second
half having long spells of possession for both clubs. Boston had the majority of
the possession during the game, but Hinckley had more chances. On another day
Marrison may have put away at least one of his chances and that would've changed
things, but overall a huge improvement on recent performances and apart from the
goal, the defence stopped their tendency to make silly mistakes.Click here for: Boston United match details Photos of game here: Boston United in the Photo Gallery |
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| Friday 24th August | |
| The Penny Drops | |
| Experienced defender Andy Penny has re-signed for Hinckley United this afternoon, for a second time, meaning this is now his third tour of duty with us. Penny signed from fellow BS North club Solihull Moors, who coincidently we play on Monday. Already a veteran of 150 games for Hinckley, he returns during a bit of a defence crisis with Hinckley only having 2 central defenders in the current squad. He is expected to be in the squad for the trip to Boston on Saturday. | |
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| Monday 13th August | |
| Saturday 18th August | |
| Hinckley yet to find win | |
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Blyth Spartans and Hinckley United both contributed to a poor game and both shared
the points in a 1-1 draw at the Marston Stadium. Another game, another defensive
error and still Hinckley can't find that elusive first win. Hinckley put in a much
better performance than the previous game but are still way off the pace if we're
looking for a play off place. Hinckley continued with Neil Cartwright playing in
the free role, yet couldn't find any width unless the full backs pushed up, which
sort of defeats the point. Colin Marrison had an early chance for Hinckley through
the right channel, shooting wide of the goal then the game became bogged down in
midfield, with a number of corners for both teams but no real chances. A Hinckley
corner was played short in the 28th minute for Sam Shilton to cross central and
Leon Jackson headed goalwards but the wrong side of the post. Then right on half
time another Hinckley corner was played in from the left and Adam Bartlet came for
the ball but missed it. Marrison toe poked the ball towards the open goal but
agonisingly it was kicked away on the line by a defender, ensuring the half time
score remained 0-0. Straight away in the second half a Jon Stevenson half volley
was saved by Bartlett and then Lavery followed that up with a 30 yard shot that
drifted wide. As the game wore on the quality became worse, however Sean Bowles
did keep Hinckley in the game on the hour with a dive to his left to save a header.
Just after this the first controversial moment of the game happened. The ball was
crossed to Story in the 6 yard box and shot goalwards with Bartlett missing the
ball but his leg stopping it on the line. As the attackers and defenders all ran
in the ball appeared to just cross over the line before it was enveloped in a mass
of players. The ref decided to award a free kick to Blyth and save himself having
to make a big decision. the second controversial moment was just after this in the
75th minute. Tony Butler had missed his tackle on Rob Dale and Rich Lavery lunged
in recklessly giving away a clear penalty. Dale took the penalty and Sean Bowels
dived the right way and pushed the ball onto the post and away to safety. However
the lino waved for an infringement and the ref decided that the penalty had to be
taken again, this time Dale sending Bowles the wrong way to give Blyth the lead.
The ref then decided 5 minutes later that Owen Story with just the goalkeeper to
beat, wasn't fouled from behind when he went over in the area denying Hinckley a
penalty themselves. Blyth's attempts to break up the game with time wasting
substitutions backfired as Hinckley equalised right on time. A free kick on the
left was played central for Rich Lavery to power home a header from 10 yards out.
From the kick off Hinckley regained possession and Shilton crossed in from the left
for Story to head goalwards which was saved. Story's pace was causing the Blyth
defence to panic and he outpaced Richard Foster only for the defender to cynically
bring him down, receiving the yellow card for the offence. The free kick was cleared
from safety and the final whistle blew with both sides happy to scrape a draw from
a poor game. Click here for: Blyth Spartans match details |
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| Monday 13th August | |
| Hoodoo n. (cause of) Bad Luck | |
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Worcester. Worcester, Worcester, Worcester. Pfffft, bloody Worcester. I mean, 13 matches. 13 matches and not one single win. I suppose I should be thankful it wasn't 0-4 like a few years ago but, 13 games. Surely we should've won one by now. Ok then, I can't put any spin on this one, so here goes... The Worcester City hoodoo over Hinckley United continued for the 13th match in a row, as the Dragons secured all 3 points at the Marston's Stadium with a 4-2 win. Just like last season Hinckley gifted Worcester a 2-0 lead within the first 15 minutes. In only the 3rd minute Graham Ward was allowed too much space on the right, unchallenged he crossed for Emeka Nwadike unmarked in the centre, and he guided the ball into the net from close range. 10 minutes later, another cross from the Worcester right was unchecked and Danny Hodnett glanced his header into the far corner of the net giving City a 0-2 lead. It could've been 3 if Bowles hadn't saved well from Mark Danks on 17 minutes, with Hinckley completely out of the game. Hinckley did manage to get a goal back after 20 minutes against the run of play, in their first attack, Dominic Roma battled to the line and crossed the ball for Neil Cartwright on the left, who headed back across goal to Colin Marrison to head over Danny McDonnell from 10 yards. It wasn't long though before Worcester had extended their lead again. In the 25th minute a free kick on the right was played central again to the unmarked Nwadike who couldn't fail to score, and didn't fail, making it 1-3. It was all Worcester and Hinckley were unable to string two passes together, but did manage to hold out till half time without conceding another. The second half was a different story for Hinckley. With a huge increase in workrate and actually passing to our own players, Hinckley enjoyed a long spell of pressure, finally taking the game to Worcester. 3 minutes into the second half, Cartwright crossed central for Marrison to head past McDonnell, but also agonisingly wide of the post. Hinckley got another goal back on the hour, from quick thinking by Cartwright to play the ball short for Lee Philpott who turned and crossed quickly to catch out the Worcester defence, and Rich Lavery headed the ball unmarked past the helpless McDonnell. This triggered an all out attack from Hinckley, first a long ball from Sean Bowles on 65 minutes cleared the Worcester defence and Cartwright neatly flicked the ball over the advancing McDonnell, but the Worcester keeper breathed relief when it landed just on top of the net. A short corner from the left was played into Lavery who turned and shot in the 6 yard box, but saw his effort go into the side netting. On 71 minutes Leon Jackson was 30 yards out and clear in space, as he half volleyed the ball goalwards with McDonnell off his line. McDonnell took one step back and managed to superbly fingertip the ball over for a corner. Somehow the Worcester goal still stayed intact as another corner from Hinckley was played into the 6 yard area and with McDonnell missing the ball, enough Worcester defenders were on the line to clear away the goal bound effort. Worcester City's player of the night Mark Danks provided the killer blow for the Dragons on 86 minutes with an excellent goal. Worcester broke on the left and Danks received the ball at waist height. He flicked the ball over his marker Tom Birch, ran past him and was one on one with Sean Bowles. Danks placed the ball to the left of Bowles, scoring Worcester's fourth and continuing the hoodoo they have over us for a 13th match as the game finished 2-4. Click here for: Worcester City match details |
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| Saturday 11th August | |
| Opening day nerves | |
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Hinckley United had their usual opening day nerves and put in a less than expected
performance away at Leigh RMI, but scraped a 2-2 draw. Hinckley had to come from
behind twice, but overall a draw was the right result. Colin Marrison had Hinckley's
first chance in the opening 5 minutes when a free kick from the right was played
to the left, headed back into the area to Marrison who snatched at his shot and
fired over from 10 yards out. However it was Leigh that took the lead in the 13th
minute after an error from Sean Bowles. Scott Willis crossed from the right with
Bowles coming out to punch away the cross but missing the ball. The cross fell
straight to Dan Owen who simply headed into the empty net. Hinckley were level
though 10 minutes later. A Cartwright free kick was played across the face of the
penalty area from the right. No defender cleared the ball and the keeper stood on
his line, as the ball came to Tom Birch on the left post to sweep in the equaliser
from close range. The remainder of the half was very scrappy with little goal action
leaving the half time score 1-1. That was to change early in the second half when
Hinckley were caught standing still in the 49th minute. Steve Settle was allowed
to run unchecked on the right and crossed low into the area for Kevin Rapley to
sidefoot into the net from close range. The game changed for Hinckley with the
introduction of substitute Owen Story after 70 minutes. Up till then Hinckley had
appeared laboured and sluggish, but Story's pace added an impetuous to Hinckley
and paid almost immediate dividends. Story's determination forced a throw by the
corner flag, which was played short then crossed to the far left post to Neil
Cartwright who volleyed from close range bringing out an excellent point blank
save from John Lamb in the Leigh goal. From the resultant corner, Leigh had not
learned their lesson, the corner was played in from the left to the right side,
then headed back to the left this time for Jon Stevenson to be unmarked and volley
high into the top of the net on 73 minutes, scoring Hinckley's second equaliser.
It was only now that Hinckley showed any quality expected of them. A number of
corners were forced in the closing stages but it was too little too late and only
Tony Butler's last minute glancing header that drifted wide of the post was any
real threat, leaving the final score as a 2-2 draw, despite what the BBC,SKY,RAC
and NLP all claim. Overall disappointing for the fans, but as Hinckley are notorious
slow starters, nothing that wasn't expected. A scrappy disjointed performance for
much of the game with all of both teams goals being defensive errors. Still, we
came back from a goal down twice, which has to be looked at as a plus. Click here for: Leigh RMI match details |
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| Thursday 9th August | |
| Striker set back for start of season | |
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Gez Murphy will miss making his full debut for Hinckley United until at least around
christmas time. It has been confirmed that the striker has badly damaged the medial
ligaments in his knee and will be out of action for at least four months. Murphy
was stretchered off during last Saturday's pre-season friendly against Kidderminster,
after a clash with Harriers keeper Scott Bevan. DT said: "It's a big blow for us
because he was an important part of our plans. It was something you see all of the
time, sometimes you get away with it and sometimes you don't. Unfortunately, this
time the player hasn't. The medial ligaments are ruptured and we are talking about
four months. These things happen in football, but they seem to be happening to us
every season, we have just got to get one with it." With Murphy now out until christmas, and Leon Kelly suspended for 2 months, the onus on goals is now with Colin Marrison and Jon Stevenson. Though in a strange twist, these are the two strikers with the best form throughout pre season. |
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| Saturday 4th August | |
| Harriers too strong for Hinckley | |
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Hinckley United were beaten by Blue Square Premier Kidderminster Harriers in our
final pre season friendly by 1-0, but the game was overshadowed by a serious injury
to striker Gez Murphy. Kidderminster showed their strength throughout the match
and Hinckley were chasing the game for long periods. In the opening 10 minutes
though Gez Murphy had two good chances to give Hinckley the lead. He was one-on-one
with the keeper but flashed his shot across goal, and then from a corner directed
his header straight at the keeper. Harriers took the lead not long after this from
a free kick on the left played central then 'teed up' for Jeff Kenna to blast home
from 15 yards. The game was still very much a midfield battle and Chris Nurse and
Rich Lavery were seeing a lot of action without either side creating many clear
cut chances. Hinckley lifted themselves slightly for the second half and put together
a few more attacking plays, but were knocked out of their stride by an injury to
Gez Murphy on the hour mark. In a one-on-one with Scott Bevan, the Harriers keeper
caught Murphy just below the knee, and the striker had to be stretchered off in a
leg splint. At the moment the extent of his injury is not known. The game carried
on but was much of the same with a strong Kidderminster defence holding all that
Hinckley could muster and Harriers themselves content not to stretch themselves
too much. The game finished 0-1 to the Harriers, but Hinckley will console
themselves with the fact that they won't face many defences as strong, or as big,
as Kidderminster's in the BS North. Hinckley: Sean Bowles, Dominic Roma, Sam Shilton, Rich Lavery, Tom Birch, Tony Butler, Neil Cartwright, Chris Nurse, Gez Murphy, Jon Stevenson, Owen Story. Subs: Colin Marrison, Leon Jackson, Curtis Smith. Kidderminster: Scott Bevan, Jeff Kenna, Mark Creighton, Jon Munday, Paul Bignot, Michael Blackwood, Russ Penn, Brian Smikle, Andy Farrell, Justin Richards, Matt Barnes-Homer. Subs: John Harkness, Gavin Hurren, Dean Coleman, Michael McGrath, Neil Howarth. Photos of game here: Kidderminster Harriers in the Photo Gallery |
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| Wednesday 1st August | |
| Goodnight Nurse | |
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Chris Nurse rounded off an excellent individual performance by scoring the goal
that beat a Coventry City XI, consisting of reserves and squad players, by 1-0.
Coventry had first team squad players Colin Hawkins, Kevin Thornton and Robbie
Simpson in their side with the rest made up from reserve players. However it was
a good match with open football throughout, played in the right spirit. The game
was mainly contested in the midfield and were few real scoring chances. Chris Nurse
had Hinckley's first chance after 20 minutes when Neil Cartwright crossed from the
left to the right side of the area and Nurse's volley was pushed onto the bar by
Neil Collett. Jon Stevenson followed this up on the half hour by running into the
area past a couple of defenders, but shot into the side netting. Coventry had their
best effort before half time with a curling shot from the left of the area that beat
Sean Bowles but drifted just wide of the right hand post. In the second half Tony
Butler had a free header from a corner that was wide and Sean Bowles made an
excellent point blank save in a 'one on one' late on before Nurse scored the winner
almost right on full time. A free kick from the left was played in to the far right
of the area by Neil Cartwright for Chris Nurse to direct a superb 18 yard header
into the top right corner of the goal. There was still time for Coventry to flash
a shot across the face of goal in their last attack, but Hinckley held on for the
friendly victory. Hinckley: Sean Bowles, Dominic Roma, Sam Shilton, Chris Nurse, Tony Butler, Tom Birch, Neil Cartwright, Leon Jackson, Colin Marrison, Jon Stevenson, Owen Story. Subs: Murphy, Storer, Smith, C.Bradshaw Coventry: Neil Collett, Andy Gooding, Liam Robinson, Lee Hildreth, Colin Hawkins, Liam Francis, Donovan Simmonds, Kevin Thornton, Robbie Simpson, Chris Hollist, Liam Davis. |
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