Abbo Reacts to Narrow Victory
Hinckley AFC manager Carl Abbott said his side could have easily dropped points in yesterday’s 3-2 win over Pelsall Villa.
Ten man AFC twice went behind after conceding early in both halves, but Rob Millington, Alex Morris and Marco Adaggio all scored headers to give Hinckley the win.
And Abbott said that the pitch, which cut up throughout the game, was ‘a leveller’ between second place Hinckley and their bottom of the table hosts.
‘The pitch was certainly a leveller. There was very little created between the sides, and it was really difficult to get a foothold in the game.
‘The sending off didn’t help, but the pitch was horrendous and it could have gone either way. We could have easily dropped points today, and there was no way we could have put on any kind of a show. It was a battle of attrition, but we won didn’t we!’
Yesterday’s match as another case of Hinckley winning without being at their best, as they did in their last outing at Pershore Town.
‘We’ve been doing that a lot lately. We’re waiting for the tide to turn with our performances but we couldn’t have performed today; it wasn’t possible, so it was just about managing the game and getting through it.
‘We’ve come to a side who have only won one or two games, who we spanked earlier in the season, and we easily have dropped points today.
‘We’ve got to go home happy, because that was just a toss of a coin today.’
The reverse fixture saw Hinckley run out 13-0 winners, but Abbott assured supporters that there was no complacency from his side in yesterday’s game.
‘No, not at all. That slope is a severe a slope as you’ll see anywhere in non-league football. I don’t even know if they allow clubs to get promoted anymore with gradients like that.
‘In the first half, you get penned back in your own half, and I played here in the early 2000s when they were an Alliance club, and it was always the same: you got some really funny scorelines at half time.
‘We tried to do things right in the first half, it was just difficult and the scoreline didn’t surprise me at all.
‘The sending off made it difficult, but there was absolutely no complacency, I can assure everybody of that.
‘It’s just a really hard place to come, and the condition the pitch is in meant that there was very little between the sides. It was just a battle of will, and a battle of attrition.’
AFC’s next game is another away trip, but their closest of the season. They make the short journey up the A5 to take on Nuneaton Griff next week, and the former Wolves Casuals boss is looking forward to the game, whatever the conditions.
‘We’re looking forward to that. Hopefully the pitches will firm up a bit and we can get back into the groove of playing some football.
‘But if push comes to shove and we have to scrap it out, that’s what we’ll do. It’s not pretty, it’s nail-biting, and in a situation where we need to win every game it’s not ideal because it is a bit of a lottery, but if that’s what we’ve got to do then that’s what we’ll do.’
