A trip to Premier Division play-off outfit Highgate United on Tuesday stands between Hinckley AFC and a second consecutive League Cup final.
After winning the competition last season, Hinckley are now two games away from repeating that remarkable feat in a tournament for sides in AFC’s league and the one above.
But to get there, they’ll have to overcome a Highgate side with plenty of familiar faces, and who are off the back of one of the standout results in the Midlands this season.
The opposition
Highgate went into their final game of the Premier Division season on Thursday needing a 12-goal win over bottom side Bewdley Town to sneak into the play-offs.
They managed it, pummelling 12 without reply to finish fifth above Studley on goals scored – and were helped no end by seven for their former Hinckley forward Ryan Harkin.
It means they face a to Lichfield City on Saturday in their play-off semi-final, but before that will aim to reach a showpiece final.
They could be hitting form at the perfect time – their last home game was a 7-0 thrashing of Wolverhampton Casuals, in which Harkin scored twice more, and they have only lost once at home since August.
Indeed, their form at The Coppice is a big part of their run to the play-offs. 39 of their 61 points came at home, and until the thrashing of Bewdley, nearly 2/3 of their goals scored were at home too.
Like Hinckley, Highgate have beaten two Division One sides and a Premier Division team to reach the semi-finals. They overcame Cradley Town, Droitwich Spa and Tividale.
Previous meetings
It’s nine years since the sides last met – Highgate won Division One in Hinckley’s first-ever season back in 2014/15. The last meeting came in April 2015, a 2-2 draw in which Hinckley came from behind to lead through Marco Adaggio and Matt Gardner, but had to settle for a point away to the eventual league winners.
From the dressing room
“Terry (Anderson, Highgate manager) is a good friend of mine and to make the play-offs in the league above is very hard. I don’t know how they’ll approach it in terms of having the play-off semi-final on Saturday. It’ll be a monumental task to get to the final but we’ll do all we can to get back to the Bescot because it was a brilliant day last year.
“It means everything. We’ll lean on last year’s final, and the Heather game the other week. That feeling of when you achieve something is brilliant. It was an unbelievable day last year, and that’s a taste of what it’s like. So we’ll try and rely on that. But Highgate are a new opposition for us to face. We know a lot about them because of the players they have, and I’ve watched plenty of them. We’ll be the underdogs as we always are against a team from the league above, but we’ll try and win the game.”
Joe Conneely
Key information
The winners of the tie will face Premier Division champions Congleton Town in the final.
Highgate play at The Coppice, Tythe Barn Lane, Shirley, Solihull, B90 1PH.
Adults: £8
Concessions: £4
