Abbo Reflects on ‘Great Result’
Hinckley AFC manager Carl Abbott praised the way his side beat Uttoxeter Town to avenge August’s 6-1 defeat by the same opposition.
Goals from Marco Adaggio, Nathan Walker and Michael Healy extended AFC’s unbeaten run to thirteen and saw them rise to third in the table.
And the former Wolves Casuals boss was delighted with the way his side responded to the ‘hurt’ that the suffered in their first home game. He said: ‘It was a great result, and I’m really, really pleased.
‘They gave us a tanking at the start of the season, and our personnel’s changed a lot since then but the lads that are still here from that result wanted to come and set the record straight. It hurt us, it hurt the club, it hurt me and Paul (Tomlinson) and the fans.
‘The fans have come in great voice today hoping to see us put that right. We’ve obliged them and understandably, everybody’s on the ceiling in the dressing room.’
Abbott also spoke of how his half time team talk had to adapt as a result of Avun Jephcott’s sending off in first half stoppage time.
‘They were going to get a tattering at half time, but that changed because rather than pointing out where we were doing things wrong, and we weren’t working well enough in our shape, we’ve ended up having to have an entirely new game plan.
‘Robbie (Millington) had to be sacrificed, which is unfortunate because he got through a lot of good work in the first half, but we needed to get a proper left back on.
‘We made that change to make Marco (Adaggio) a lone striker, and we asked JJ (Melligan) to work narrower in more of a three in midfield, not to go and threaten their full back.
‘We said to Luke Richards “every time you get the ball, go and take yards”, and if he could get from our defensive third into their box and get a shot off, that’s the objective. That gave us an outlet, and the second goal came from Luke winning a free kick.
‘But we can only tell the guys what to do. We did in the first half, and they didn’t follow the game plan. Second half we gave them a new game plan and they followed it to the letter.’
Hinckley’s two newest additions are Michael Williams and Oli Basham, who both joined in the week. Williams made his debut at right back yesterday, and Abbott said what the two new boys will bring to the team.
‘”Dubes” (Williams) is an experienced player. He’s had a good few years a Rugby Town and Stafford Rangers. He’s had a few personal problems this year, which meant he was out on loan at Stafford Town, and he’s see this as good step for him, to come to a serious club and get back on track football.
‘He can play in multiple positions. He’s a specialist full back, but we loved him in midfield, he can play wide and he looked great as a centre forward. He’s going to be a really good addition for us.
‘Oli’s just turned seventeen, he’s a real talent, and has looked outstanding in training. Even in the warm up today he looked every inch comfortable in this company.
‘He’s still in his first year of Under 18s football, so he’ll carry on playing that but he’ll get game time with us. We’re investing in young talent, and that’s what we’ll carry on doing. It’s very much part of what we’re trying to do.’
