Hinckley AFC Manager Carl Abbott called his side’s 3-1 extra time win over Wolves Sporting on Saturday ‘exhilarating’.
The first half saw a goal for each side, a penalty saved and the woodwork struck five times as both sides showed their attacking prowess.
And Abbott felt it was like watching a basketball game at times. He said: “It was a great game of football. It was tight, and swung like a pendulum a little bit.
“When we played our way, we completely controlled the game. If I’m honest – and I don’t mean to be disrespectful – I thought we were a cut above but I think in boxing terms we were slugging with the slugger for twenty minutes every now and then.
“That leant it towards them a little bit. It was a little bit out of control, a bit like a basketball game, and it gave them a chance.
“But when we slowed it down – our thought process not our tempo of play – I thought we controlled it and played some really nice stuff.”
And that impressive display of moving the ball around meant Abbott felt his side were fully deserving of their win.
“I thought we deserved it overall. They (Wolves Sporting) will look back on the first half when they hit the post twice and had a penalty saved, but we hit the crossbar twice and missed two guilt-edged chances. I think that was just a mad fifteen minutes in the game which, as a manager, you can do without.
“But I’m very pleased, and I believed we’d win the game.”
But Abbott was left ruing the end-to-end nature of the game after it left his side hit by a number of injuries to add to the absences of Darious Darkin, Kristian Ramsey-Dickson and Mitchell Tomlinson.
“We’ve made three substitutions today because of injuries. Andy Westwood played the last ten minutes with a hamstring strain, Isaac (Cooper)’s pulled his groin and Pete (Williams) is also feeling his groin.
“It’s taken it’s toll a little bit and I’m going to have to do a bit of business now to top us up and subsidise the squad.
“But I wouldn’t change the injuries for a different result today, and I’m really happy with the day. There’s been a lot of banter going into the game but we kept our counsel. The other side were happy make themselves favourites and that suited us, and meant we could come into the game relaxed.
“It was a good, tough game, and the right result for us.”
To see the full video interview with Abbo, visit our YouTube channel: https://youtu.be/IyiGuqZtrYQ
