Abbo on Heather Battle
Hinckley AFC Manager Carl Abbott admitted that his side had to roll their sleeves up and battle for all three points against Heather St John’s yesterday.
In a game where both sides made some full blooded challenges, Hinckley had to come from behind after Eddie Wilson’s opener, and held out for all three points despite Ryan Paddock’s sending off on the hour.
And the former Wolves Casuals boss acknowledged that it was more of a battle than he was expecting. He said: ‘When we play against a team that we groundshare with, it adds an extra bit of spice and there’s something a bit extra to the game.
‘For some reason there doesn’t seem to be a lot of love lost when we step across the white line but that’s ok, it’s football.
‘It was a good test of our resolve again, going a goal down, although I thought we were dominant in the first half and obviously then losing a man after the goal wasn’t ideal.
‘I’m not sure what happened in that melee, we’ll find out, but it caused us a bit more adversity. We’re coming through those moments and we’re looking like a good unit.’
Coming from behind was a character trait that Abbott’s side possessed in their lengthy unbeaten run last year, and appears to be coming back to this year’s crop of players. This was the second game on the bounce where Hinckley had to come from behind and he says there is a desire to keep the group together for next season.
‘We had our fair share of adversity last year in the run and we’re finding our feet. There’s a real desire from this group to stay together and work together, and it’s about next year now as well as trying to secure that decent league finish and the cup final.
‘It’s a work in progress, but you can see little things clicking into place now with a little consistency. Assuming that these players will be here next year, you can see how things are going to fit together next year and where people are going to play.
Consistency has been the issue all season, and has cost us a lot, especially in defence, but we’re getting there now and the aim is to carry this over into next year. We’ll be all the better for it.’
