Hinckley AFC manager Carl Abbott was unhappy that his side got “penned in” during the second half in Monday’s bank holiday defeat to Atherstone Town.
Hinckley went into the break a goal to the good courtesy of Dom Smith’s header during a tightly contested first half, but AFC struggled to gain a foothold during the second half.
That said, they still led until the 85th minute when Alex Naughton equalised, and then slotted home the winner a minute into stoppage time.
Abbott credited Atherstone for “doing a job” on his side after the break with his side unable to break out. He said: “It was a poor game really. I haven’t quite digested it yet. I think there were a lot of factors (around the second half) but we just got penned in.
“It was a poor second half from us. They played with an intensity and boxed us in, the pitch was horrendous so we couldn’t move the ball. We tried to turn them around a bit but we missed Sam Agar today and we struggled to run the channels.
“We weren’t able to get out and credit to them (Atherstone) because they put a lot of pressure on us. We couldn’t get out, we certainly couldn’t play our way out, and we struggled to turn them around.
“That said, we were ten minutes away from getting a result that we would never have got two years ago, or even last season, in winning ugly when you’re not playing well.”
Abbott was pleased with goalkeeper Haydn Whitcombe’s more commanding nature, saying he’s getting louder by each game, and praised the former Littleton stopper after some good saves kept his side ahead.
The same, however, could not be said for referee Darren Laksa, who Abbott felt helped Atherstone’s cause with soft free kicks on and around the edge of the box.
“I’m not one to criticise referees or use them as a way out, but I thought today’s was poor.
“He gave them free hits on our goal time and time again with soft free kicks on the edge of the box. One of them is bound to hit the target eventually so it’s no surprise when the equaliser goes in.
“It changed the tide of the game and I’m not happy at all.”
