Hinckley AFC secured a top-half finish in their first season at step five as Bryan Kohyrelon’s hat-trick helped them to a 4-2 win over Lutterworth Town.
Needing a win to guarantee they’d end the season in ninth, Hinckley started well and led 2-0 at the break when it could easily have been more.
But they were made to work for the points by a spirited Lutterworth fightback after the interval, before Kohyrelon made sure of the points in stoppage time by converting for his first Hinckley treble.
Joe Conneely made just one change to the side beaten by St Neots last week – Caleb Yeboah starting in place of captain Zaki Evans, who was carrying a hamstring knock.
And his side started superbly in the pouring rain. After 10 minutes, Luke Jones cut in from the right and saw his curling effort clip the crossbar.
That was the start of an onslaught, and for the next 10 minutes Hinckley barely let Lutterworth out of their own half. Shortly afterwards, Leo Farruch ran through on goal but tried to round Frankie Elmes, who forced him wide and Farruch’s attempted square ball was crowded out.
Then, Chandler Pegg’s header from a corner was cleared off the line, Kohyrelon’s rebound was blocked too and the visitors scrambled clear.
Two minutes later, an almost identical scenario saw Yeboah’s header strike the woodwork, again Kohyrelon had a close-range follow-up denied and Elmes’ goal led a charmed life.
That was until the half-hour mark, when Hinckley opened the scoring. Kohyrelon made it 15 goals for the season with superb header into the corner from Jay D’Lionga’s pinpoint cross.
The cheers from that goal had barely died down when they started again, celebrating youth team graduate Yeboah’s first senior goal as he rose highest to nod home Jared Bradshaw’s corner.
Both Kohyrelon and Yeboah could have added to their tallies before the break – the former shot wide on the turn and the latter couldn’t connect with a free header from close range as Hinckley took their two-goal lead into the break.
Goalkeeper Keelan Fallows was practically a spectator in the first half, but he was soon picking the ball out of his net in the second. Less than 10 minutes of the half had passed when Dylan Parish got in behind and finished coolly to give Lutterworth hope.
Hinckley’s start to the second period was much slower than their first, but they quickly restored their two-goal cushion when Kohyrelon picked up a pass in the channel, cut past his man and finished into the corner.
When Lewis Rankin came off the bench with 17 minutes to play, it was the 150th time he’d pulled on a Hinckley shirt and the midfielder will start next season just one game shy of Luke Richards’ club record.
Still Lutterworth’s improvement continued, and they went close when Fallows saved smartly from Parish and then substitute Zack Ablett lashed a fierce strike wide.
And they did make Hinckley nervous with seven minutes left. AFC had just given youth team keeper Luca Bien his senior debut, but he was powerless to stop a magnificent strike from Divine Okyere, who found the top corner from outside the box.
As Hinckley sought to make the game safe again, Elmes denied Kohyrelon his hat-trick but the striker wasn’t to be denied his treble. In stoppage time, Keaton Blackbird beat Elmes to the ball, it would have been a penalty but the referee allowed play to go on because it had bounced through to Kohyrelon six yards out, and he duly nodded into the empty net to seal the matchball.
And it also sealed a 12th home league win of the season, whose ninth-placed finish marks a solid start to life at step five with the 249-strong crowd sent home happy as they applauded their players off in the spring sunshine.
Hinckley: Keelan Fallows (Luca Bien 82), Jay D’Lionga (Cody Faulkner 66), Adam Barber, Harry Walker-Donovan, Chandler Pegg, Oli Szymanski, Luke Jones (Randy Doudu 81), Caleb Yeboah (Lewis Rankin 73), Bryan Kohyrelon, Jared Bradshaw, Leo Farruch (Keaton Blackbird 71).
Goals: Bryan Kohyrelon (31, 62, 91), Caleb Yeboah (34)
Lutterworth: Frankie Elmes, Ash Butler, Ruairi O’Boyle, Archie Wallace, Elijah Kazimirow (Fabio Alberghini 74), Shaun Leslie, Nelson Silas (Kendal Kesse 61), Dylan Parish, Divine Okyere, Pier Gyamfi, Ben Stokes (Zach Ablett 77).
Goals: Dylan Parish (54), Divine Okyere (83)
Attendance: 249
