engine powered by FreeFind.com independent message board matthew gadsby memorial page non-league a-z club guide site map       January 2012   Saturday 28th   Eight not great in Harrogate Hinckley United lost their eighth away league game of the season, losing 2-1 at Harrogate Town. Again Hinckley conceded sloppy goals early on and were 2-0 down in quarter of an hour. Rob Youhill opened the scoring for Harrogate on 11 minutes and then Richard Pell headed a second on 16 minutes. There was to be no repeat of the comeback against Stalybridge, even though Andre Gray scored a goal early in the second half, Hinckley could not force the ball into the net a second time. That leaves the club firmly in the last relegation spot going into February. click here for: Harrogate match details return to top Monday 23rd   Top Hatters for Hinckley Hinckley United bowed out of the FA Trophy losing to Luton Town 3-0 at Kenilworth Road. An own goal by Dan Bragoli gave the Hatters the lead in the 14th minute and just before half time Amari Morgan-Smith doubled their advantage. The tie was sealed for Luton in the second half when Stuart Fleetwood netted the third. It wasn't all one way traffic as Andre Gray and Craig Farrell had a number of good opportunities but were thwarted every time by Mark Tyler in the Luton goal, something for which he won the man of the match. click here for: Luton match details return to top Saturday 21st   10 goal bonanza at De Mont Hinckley United and Stalybridge Celtic fans certainly got value for their money as the league game between the two, at De Montfort Park, ended in a 5-5 draw. Yes 5-5! Though when Stalybridge raced into a first half 0-4 lead no one could've seriously guessed what would follow in the second half. Stalybridge started with the strong wind behind them and took good advantage going two goals up in the first 6 minutes. The first came in the first minute from a free kick when Kristian Platt fired in from the edge of the area and the ball took a big deflection off the wall and past the stranded Denham Hinds. The second in the sixth minute after a good run down the left from Nick Rogan who crossed low into the area and Callum Flanagan could only divert the ball into his own net when trying to clear. It wasn't just Celtic on the attack though, Lloyd Kerry crossed for Danny Newton 6 yards out who blazed over, and then Andre Gray flicked on a cross to Craig Farrell who hit the post with his shot. Hinds tipped over a Greg Wilkinson long range effort but had no chance with Celtic's third on 20 minutes. Steve Brogan played a through ball for Craig Hobson and he outpaced the defence and slotted past Hinds making it 0-3. Platt then saved Celtic twice, first Gray turned a corner golawards over Jan Budtz, but Platt was there to scoop it off the line, and then again when Gray fired a free kick over Budtz to the far post only for Platt to head it away from under the crossbar. Budtz made an excellent reaction save when Kerry fired in from the right edge of the area, tipping it round the post at full length. If Hinckley couldn't buy a goal, everything that Celtic hit was going in and on 40 minutes they took a four goal lead with another good run from Rogan on the left crossed to the far post for Hobson to head back across Hinds into goal. Even at 0-4 down Hinckley heads did not drop and they gave themselves the slightest of hopes right on half time when an inch perfect cross from Connor Deards on the right was headed in at the far post by Craig Farrell scoring his first goal for the club. The first half definitely belonged to Stalybridge, but Hinckley owned the second. Within one minute Deards had scored his first goal for the club after catching Platt on the blind side and taking the ball off him, into the area and fired under the dive of Budtz. 5 minutes later Hinckley had another goal when Newton took the ball on the left of the area and his shot from 15 yards across the keeper went in off the base of the post. Unbelievably 15 minutes into the second half Hinckley were level at 4-4. Andy Gooding won the ball in midield and played in Gray on the right of the area who curled his shot around Budtz into the bottom left corner levelling the scores. If that seemed unbelievable at 0-4 down, then Hinckley completed the impossible when on the hour they actually took the lead. Platt under hit a back pass to Budtz and with Gray bearing down on him the Celtic keeper, instead of opting to hoof the ball anywhere, decided to try and dribble the ball away from the Hinckley forward. The keeper completely lost control of the ball and Gray had the simple task of rolling the ball away from Budtz and tapping into the empty net making it 5-4 to Hinckley. Gray had another good chance to make it six, but Budtz had learned his lesson and hoofed another back pass out of the ground just before Gray got there. In a game with so many goals arguably no team deserved to lose, and so it was with 10 minutes left when Rogan scored Celtic's fifth. Andy McWilliams put in a left wing cross and this time it was Rogan unmarked at the far post who had time to chest the ball down and blast it past Hinds levelling the scores at 5-5. Neither side could force a winner in the last 10 minutes so both sides had to settle for a point, though Hinckley were happier with that outcome, considering the score at half time. click here for: Stalybridge match details return to top Wednesday 18th   Hatters held in Trophy The FA Trophy game against Luton Town was finally played, but ended in a 0-0 draw so still has to be played all over again. The Hatters played a squad side with a couple of Youth teamers, but were still fielding an experienced and capable side. For the first half Luton were the better side and had the better chances, but young goalkeeper Denham Hinds was equal to anyhting they created. First Hinds was vigilant to tip over a John Paul Kissock drive from the edge of the area, and then dropped well on a Stuart Fleetwood effort. Paul Lister did come to Hinds rescue when Fleetwood headed past the keeper, but the centre back was on hand to scoop the ball away off the line. Hinds opposite number Mark Tyler was also in action as he turned away an Andre Gray shot, and then Gray again was thwarted by an excellent saving tackle from Ed Asafu-Adjeyi. Gray did have the ball in the net after the half hour, but the goal was ruled out for an offside in the build up. Hinds was again on hand to save from Kissock on the stroke of half time to keep teh scores still level. The second half saw Hinckley more determined and they created the better chances. Gray was denied early on by Tyler, and Asafu-Adjaye got in front of his follow up. Gray again sprung Luton's offside trap and as he ran in on goal squared to Sam Belcher who blasted goalwards but saw his shot superbly blocked. Gray, who was pulling the Luton defence left and right again broke free and centred to strike partner Craig Farrell whose close range volley was equalled by a great reaction save from Tyler. With 5 minutes remaining, Hinckley had the ball in the net for a second time when Lister headed in from a corner, but the ref also disallowed that goal for a push in the area. Neither side created any more chances of note, and will have it all to do over again next monday night at Kenilworth Road. click here for: Luton match details return to top Monday 16th   Hats on for Wednesday Hinckley's match against Luton Town in the FA Trophy has been moved back a further 24 hours to give the cold spell time to ease off. With the forecast for Tuesday still looking like freezing conditions, both clubs agreed on the decision to put the game back to Wednesday night, with milder temperatures expected. So, the match will now be played on Wednesday 18th January with a 7.45pm KO Woden forbid, should a replay be required, it is scheduled for Kenilworth Road on Monday January 23rd, KO 7.45pm. return to top Saturday 14th   Hats Off The FA Trophy match against Luton was postponed just over an hour before kick off after the referee decided frost in front of the Main Stand would not clear in time. The Luton team and many of their fans had already arrived at the ground, which added to the disappointment. The match has been rescheduled for Tuesday night 17th January, with a 7.45pm kick off. return to top Monday 9th   Alty halt Hinckley run Hinckley United were brought back down to earth days after recording their highest home league victory, being soundly beaten by Altrincham at De Montfort Park 1-4, recording their highest home league defeat. Altrincham were value for their win and dictated the game for most of the night, whilst Hinckley looked off the pace, were second to the ball through out the game, and only managed to have one shot on target all night. Even though Altrincham were the better team, Hinckley had held reasonably solid until just before half time when they were hit by 3 goals either side of the break. On 42 minutes James Lawrie had seen his shot turned away well by Hinds and from the resulting corner Adrian Hawes lost his marker to head into goal unchallenged. Almost straight away Altrincham attacked again, and Hinckley's defence failed to clear a through ball which came to Lawrie on the right of goal who fired acros the keeper and in off the far post giving Altrincham a 0-2 half time lead. Any hopes Hinckley might have had of coming back in the second half were shredded in the first minute after the restart, thanks to a bit of comedy defending from Hinckley. Instead of clearing the ball, the defender tripped over the ball and left Damien Reeves a clear run on goal, and the League's top scorer didn't waste a golden opportunity like that, scoring Altrincham's third. Reeves had another great chance when played through on goal just before the hour, but instead of scoring his 27th goal of the season, he unselfishly squared to Jack Redshaw who simply had to tap in Altrinhcam's fourth. With the game well won for Alty, they stepped off the pace a little and Hinckley began to get a little more into the game. They registered their first and only shot on target on 64 minutes when a free kick on teh edge of the area was hit by Danny Newton and helped by a deflection into the corner of the goal, scoring a consolation for Hinckley. It might have been a different last 15 minutes had Craig Farrell scored a second for Hinckley but his close range shot was really well saved by Stuart Coburn and cleared to safety. This only woke Altrincham out of their slumber and they had good chances to increase their goal tally further, but the goalpost came to Hinckley's rescue on more than one occasion, including one effort from Simon Richman which incredibly came off both posts of the goal before being cleared. A mixture of fortune and sloppy finishing kept Altrincham's win down to just the 4 goals to 1. click here for: Altincham match details return to top Saturday 7th   Hinckley continue new year winning resolution Hinckley United continued their turn of form, making it 9 goals in two games, eventually beating Eastwood Town comfortably, though it was 3 late goals made the scoreline reflect the performance. New loan signing Craig Farrel was starting up front partnering Andre Gray, whilst other loan signing Connor Deards was on the bench. Despite the swirling wind messing with anyhting over head height, Hinckley pressed from the start and kept the Eastwood goal under pressure pretty much start to finish. It's fair to say Eastwood had one opportunity all game and that Hinckley keeper Denham Hinds really only had the wind to worry about. Once Hinckley had gone ahead the result was a foregone conclusion, though former Hinckley keeper Ian Deakin, now back in the Eastwood goal was going to do his best to keep the score down as low as possible. It was Sam Belcher twice in the opening 5 minutes that threatened the Eastwood goal, his first effort scrambled away and his second from the edge of the area, following a lay off from Craig Farrell, was turned away by Deakin for a corner. Hinckley were ahead on 11 minutes though after good work by Lloyd Kerry putting in a deep curling cross from the right to the far post where Andy Gooding had run in unmarked and headed past the stranded keeper. 10 minutes later Eastwood had an escape, as Hinckley were denied a strong penalty appeal when Farrell was in the area running onto the ball, but even though Ross Gardner looked to have both arms around him holding him back, the ref waved play on. Andre Gray tried his luck with a chip, but the wind lifted it over the bar onto the top of the net, and then Gray was 1 on 1 with Deakin who made an excellent save getting low to the ball pushing it away for a corner. Danny Newton was played through by Farrell, but his 20 yard effort was rising and cleared the bar by some way. Farrell again laid off the ball for Gray to run onto and his powerful 12 yard effort was again turned away by Deakin. From the resulting corner the ball was sliced by the Eastwood defence almost resulting in an own goal, but another corner was the outcome. From that, Belcher miscued his effort at goal, but came to Rich Lavery at the back post, who couldn't quite turn the ball on target, placing it the wrong side of the post. Gray tried another effort from long range, which took a deflection off a defender glancing off the roof off the net, before Kerry saw his shot blocked and scrambled away. Just before half time Denham Hinds had to make his only save of the game, an Eastwood corner was played to the near post where Gardner tried to guide the ball past Hinds, only for the keeper to black the chance with his legs and then clear the ball to safety. Hinckley had only a 1-0 half time score, thanks mainly to Deakin in the Eatswood goal. There was no let up in the second half as Hinckley maintained the pressure. Belcher tried a first time shot from the edge of the area, but saw it go wide, and then similar to the first goal Newton crossed to the far post where Gooding this time headed wide of the target. Belcher had another effort tipped over for a corner and from that Gray hit the ball from close range seeing it blocked on the line, before bouncing off Lavery into the arms of a grateful Deakin. As Hinckley racked up the corner count another one came in for Farrell to put a chance just wide. Deakin again was in action saving a Newton header, and then dropping on a dangerous low cross from Kerry at the feet of Farrell. Deakin could do nothing about Hinckley's second goal as the constant pressure finally caused a break through. With 10 minutes remaining Farrell fired goalwards from 10 yards and Deakin made an excellent save, though the ball ran free to Newton on the left of goal to tap into the empty net. As Eastwood's resolve crumbled Hinckley saw the chance to add to the goal tally and two identical corners at the end of the game did just that. A Tom Byrne corner was drifted to the far post where Paul Lister took the ball on his chest and volleyed into the roof of the net scoring his first ever goal for Hinckley United. Minutes later a carbon copy corner was played in by Byrne again to Lister at the back post where the defender headed into the net, having not scored once in his previous 72 games he now had two in one game, rounding off an excellent comprehensive victory for Hinckley. click here for: Eastwood match details return to top Sunday 1st   Happy New Year Hinckley United completely ripped up the form book as they travelled over the A5 for the New Year derby against Nuneatin Town and came away with a comprehensive 2-5 victory. Hinckley made a couple of changes from the previous drawn derby game, as Tom Byrne came in for the suspended Matt Langham and Richard Lavery was back in midfield facing the club he left a couple of months ago. In an amazing start for Hinckley it would take Lavery only 45 seconds to make an impact against his former club. From the kick off the ball was played to the right and Andre Gray ran towards teh corner and crossed into the near post where Dan Newton flicked on into the centre of goal for Lavery completely unmarked to head into an empty net. As Nuneatin appeared shellshocked Newton tried a 30 yard effort which drifted just wide, before Andy Gooding increased Hinckley's lead on 13 minutes. A great run by Byrne on the left saw him evade a couple of tackles before coming into the area and playing the ball back to Gooding unmarked on the edge of the area, and the Hinckley captain placed his shot wide of Alcock's dive. It was all Hinckley at this point, Gray saw his shot deflected wide for a corner and Byrne again turned the Nuneatin defence inside out, only for his cross to be scrambled away this time. On 20 minutes Hinckley had added a third goal when Sam Belcher broke through the middle of the field and as the Nuneaton defence backed off him, he fired goalwards from 25 yards, out of the reach of the despairing dive of Alcock into the bottom corener of the net. Nuneatin's first meaningful attack didn't come until the half hour mark, from a free kick the ball was turned away by Denham Hinds, and from that corner Gareth Dean headed at the back post, but wide of the target. As the game approached half time Nuneatin began to come more into the game with Adam Walker floating in a 25 yard free kick just over the bar and Wes York placed a long range effort wide. In the last minute of the half Nuneatin forced a number of corners but Hinds cleared the ball from every cross and Dan Glovers follow up was blocked by Lavery, painfully for him it was 'below the belt', and then York's follow up was tipped away by Hinds. Glover had one last effort before half time, but wasted it by blasting over the bar, giving Hinckley a 0-3 half time lead. Obviously having been on the receiving end of a half time rocket Nuneatin came out flying for the second half and had got a goal back within a minute of the restart. A freekick on the left was played towards the back post and Gareth Dean headed into the net. With Nuneatin sensing a comeback the ball was then played into Hinckley's area and after a bit of a goalmouth melee Lavery cleared the ball. With Nuneatin pushing forward, any hopes of a comeback were dashed when Gray scored a break away goal for Hinckley on the hour. The ball was played quick through midfield and won a throw on the right, as Lloyd Kerry took it quickly the Nuneatin defence struggled to get back in position and Gray received the ball inside the area with his back to goal, he turned, made space and fired through the legs of the defenders giving Alcock no chance, restoring Hinckley's three goal cushion. Nuneatin's players were visibly deflated and Hinckley didn't release the pressure. Gray again ran at goal, going past Simon Forsdick, but the defender dragged him back giving away a free kick, though far enough away from goal to only receive a yellow card. And that same defender would be penalised again for a poor challenge on 70 minutes, as Byrne eased past him in the area and Forsdick clumsily brought him down conceding the penalty, though somehow not receiving another card for it. Belcher lined up to take the spot kick and blasted it high down the middle scoring a text book penalty, to make it 5 (five) goals for Hinckley. Nuneatin did score a consolation goal late on when Walker scored from a tight angle. Then Hinckley could've added a sixth when Jake Holt's close range shot deflected off the legs of Alcock, then George Thompson follow up was blocked by a defender on the line, and then Alcock recovered to save Gray's follow up to that. The match drifted through four minutes of injury time and Hinckley settled for a 2-5 win, their biggest over Nuneatin Town since their re-formation. Jamie Hood was unavailable to make a comment. click here for: Nuneatin match details return to top   return to top