Hinckley AFC will look to extend their Leicestershire Senior Cup run when Birstall United visit Kirkby Road for a second round tie on Monday.
AFC comfortably progressed through the last round with a 7-0 win over Magna 73 as Sonny Sheasby grabbed a hat-trick on his senior debut.
Their reward for that is another home tie but against a fellow step six side also targeting a place towards the top come the end of the season.
The opposition
The game sees the meeting of the sides beaten in the last two United Counties League Division One play-off finals, Birstall losing to Hucknall Town on penalties in last season’s promotion final.
Since then, they have had to rebuild having lost a handful of players, something Hinckley are all too familiar with, and they sit just a point outside the play-off places this time around with a third of the season gone.
They were on a five-match unbeaten run before going down 4-0 to Blackstones, who occupy the last play-off spot, in midweek. That five-match unbeaten run included a 4-3 win over Lutterworth Athletic in the first round of this competition.
Josh Crossley is their leading scorer with 12 while Will Burton has seven.
Previous meetings
The sides were league rivals in the United Counties League two seasons ago, winning a game apiece. Birstall were early-season victors at Meadow Lane when they won 3-2, before Hinckley hit back in the first match of 2022 courtesy of Charlie Evans’ double in a 2-0 win.
From the dressing room
“Birstall are a good team – they’re always competitive and will be trying to get promotion again. Me and James Dodd (Birstall manager) get on well. He’s a really good guy and has done a fantastic job at Birstall with a really competitive team.
“We had this situation last year where we beat a Senior League team and then found a tricky last 16 game where we lost away at Ashby Ivanhoe. So I’m glad we’re at home this year, and we want to go as far as we can in this competition. It’s a great chance to pick up silverware with step six clubs the highest ranked in it. It means ourselves and the likes of Birstall and Heather are among the strongest teams and we’ll do what we can to win.”
Joe Conneely
Key info
Adults :£6
Concessions: £4
