It was an afternoon to forget for Hinckley as a home goal in each half saw them fall to defeat at Leicester Nirvana.
It means it’s now just one point from the last four games as a threadbare Hinckley squad limps towards the end of the season.
The patched up nature of the side showed as they looked disjointed throughout, rarely putting together any attacking moves of note and further injuries sustained meant they finished the game with five youth teamers and Assistant Manager Sam Belcher on the pitch.
Chances were scarce in a scrappy first half, the closest Hinckley came was from their best move of the game when Jared Bradshaw timed his run into the box to perfection, but with only Daniel Farrell to beat, he shot straight at the ‘keeper and the chance was gone.
Nirvana took the lead on the half hour as Shemar Pettet’s huge throw reached Aeron Thomas in the area and he forced the ball home.
Hinckley needed a big half and they began at a better tempo after the interval. Leo Farruch did well on the left and the ball reached Bradshaw whose effort was blocked by a defender, before play switched to the other end as Tamar Clayton-Naute shot against the post from an acute angle.
But that early promise from Hinckley failed to materialise into any sustained pressure on the Nirvana backline. The home side defended superbly to snuff out any attacking threat, indeed the closest we came to another goal was when Nirvana’s Reece Massey crashed a shot off the underside of the bar.
Try as Hinckley might, they never really looked like getting back into the game and the home side sealed the points late on, Mussa Bham took full advantage of a defensive slip to race unchallenged and fire beyond Keelan Fallows.
With the final play of the game, Bradshaw struck the bar with a free kick which set the seal on a miserable afternoon for Hinckley who must regroup to ensure a promising season doesn’t end with a whimper.
Nirvana: Daniel Farrell, Shemar Pettet, Noah Ingham-Wright, Jordan Smith, Shaquille Brooks, Lynas King (Labeed Abdulrahman 75), Tamar Clayton-Naute (Nkosinathi Ncube 90+5), Abdul Koroma, Aeron Thomas (Ryan Robbins 82), Reece Massey (Mahmoud Juma 90+2), Erald Memaj (Mussa Bham 67).
Goals: Aeron Thomas (34), Mussa Bham (83)
Hinckley: Keelan Fallows, Jay D’Lionga (Cody Faulkner 68), Adam Barber (Randy Doudu 78), Zaki Evans (Caleb Yeboah 90+2), Calum Flanagan, Oli Szymanski, Luke Jones (Sam Belcher 61), Jared Bradshaw, Bryan Kohyrelon (Keaton Blackbird 78), Chandler Pegg, Leo Farruch.
Attendance: 56
