Hinckley AFC will aim to reach the Emirates FA Cup’s qualifying rounds for the first time since 2017 but will have to overturn higher level Malvern Town on Friday night to get there.
Hinckley’s reward for beating Highgate United in the extra preliminary round two weeks ago is the visit of step four outfit Malvern, who are unbeaten so far this season.
And a classic cup tie under the floodlights at Kirkby Road awaits as Hinckley will look to perform a giant-killing act over a team from the league above.
It’s seven years since Hinckley last progressed to the qualifying rounds of the competition, by beating Aylestone Park 4-1 at this stage. In the side that day was Haydn Whitcombe, who went on to play for Malvern a couple of seasons later.
The opposition
Malvern come into this game in confident mood, after a 5-1 hammering of Didcot Town in the Southern League Division One South on Tuesday.
That was their first league win of the campaign, after a 1-1 draw at Shaftesbury on the opening day last weekend. They reached this stage of the FA Cup by beating Hereford Pegasus 2-1 a fortnight ago.
Harry Clark scored both their goals in that game, and also grabbed another against Didcot, but their eight goals so far this season have been scored by five different players.
Last season’s mid-table finish marked a solid start to life a step four for the Hillsiders, who were promoted from the Hellenic League the season before.
From the dressing room
“They’re a really good team. We watched them against Didcot on Tuesday. They do everything properly, they’re thorough in what they do and they’re well-drilled. It’ll be a difficult game for us. It’s a short turnaround, which we’re used to from playing Saturday-Monday a lot, but this is even shorter.
“We go into it with nothing to lose and nothing to fear. We try to win every game we go into so we’re not going into it to have our bellies tickled, we want to get into the next round. It’ll be extremely difficult, we understand that, but let’s have a go at them, see what we can do and try to cause an upset.”
Joe Conneely
Key information
If the match ends as a draw, then a replay will take place this coming Tuesday, 20th August, at Malvern’s HDAnywhere Stadium at 7.45pm. The winners of the tie will progress into the first round qualifying, the draw for which is made on Monday.
Kirkby Road has a large on-site car park, and we have both cash and card turnstiles available. Season tickets and discounts for Hinckley AFC members are not valid for FA Cup matches.
Adults: £8
Concessions: £6
Under 16s: £2
