Hinckley AFC’s home struggles continued as they went down by the odd goal in five, losing 3-2 to Leicester Nirvana.
It’s now 10 defeats in 12 games at Kirkby Road for AFC and this was perhaps the most disappointing as they slipped into the bottom half of the table.
That was despite Brady Middleton scoring twice, but AFC were in the familiar position of having a mountain to climb at half time and they failed to scale it.
They should, though, have taken the lead inside two minutes. Middleton’s clinical finish looked to have put AFC one up, but the referee blew for a foul on Drew Kear just as the striker was about to shoot and handed Hinckley a free-kick 30 yards out instead – with AFC perplexed that advantage wasn’t played.
The opening 25 minutes or so was a decent watch – there were chances at both ends and it was played at a good tempo. Hinckley had more of the ball but Nirvana’s pace on the counter was a constant threat.
Tamar Clayton-Naute had already blazed over early on, and it was he who opened the scoring after 11 minutes with a shot from the edge of the box that deflected into the bottom corner.
Visiting goalkeeper Luke McAdam then palmed away Raj Palit’s corner from under his own bar, and that led to a Nirvana break where Mussa Bham’s strike was deflected into the side netting.
But Hinckley weren’t behind for long – Middleton beat Jordan Smith to a through ball and lofted over the onrushing McAdam with a cool finish to level.
He had another sight of goal when the ‘keeper miskicked straight to him, only for Eddie Bamfo to recover well to block.
But the visitors took control of the game late in the half with two goals that took it away from the hosts. The first was as soft as they come from a Hinckley perspective – a wide free kick floated into the box and Lamar Parkes was left unchallenged to glance home.
And Parkes turned provider just three minutes later when he broke forward down the left and crossed low for Josh Allen to slide home Nirvana’s third.
Hinckley have had a habit of coming on stronger in second halves recently but that eluded them this time. Nirvana were much the better side after the break, they passed the ball around quickly and purposefully and when Hinckley did win it back, they couldn’t keep it to anywhere near the same effect. Within a minute of the restart, Allen nearly took advantage of a defensive lapse when he lobbed over following one long pass by goalkeeper McAdam.
Bham was a constant threat down their left, he twice forced smart saves from Divin Emmanuel after cutting inside and then went down the outside as Jake Tullin cleared from inside the six-yard box.
Emmanuel also saved when Parkes bore down on goal with Jacob Shilton blocking from Allen on the rebound as Hinckley struggled to get a foothold in the game.
They did pull one back in stoppage time, Nkosinathi Ncube handled a bouncing ball in the box and Middleton converted from the spot, but Nirvana’s lead was never really under threat and they held on to move above Hinckley in the table.
Hinckley: Divin Emmanuel, Alex Dean, Gabe Webster, Zaki Evans (Charlie Williams 70), Jacob Shilton, Jake Tullin, Drew Kear (Chandler Pegg 56), Raj Palit (Prince Ogbe 46), Brady Middleton, Alex Lock, Zach Tellyn (Jordan Clement 70). Sub not used: James Spruce.
Goals: Brady Middleton (19, 90 pen)
Nirvana: Luke McAdam, Kyle Tott, Shaquille O’Neill-Brooks, Jordan Smith, Michael Akintunde, Eddie Bamfo (Lewis Holmes 89), Josh Allen (Evandro Sanches 63), Lucas Brown, Lamar Parkes, Mussa Bham (Labeed Abdulrahman 71), Tamar Clayton-Naute (Nkosinathi Ncube 81). Sub not used: Ahrian Chaddah.
Goals: Tamar Clayton-Naute (11), Lamar Parkes (42), Josh Allen (45)
Attendance: 167
