Hinckley AFC kick off a new season with a repeat of last season’s play-off semi-final when Droitwich Spa visit Kirkby Road on Saturday.
The sides finished third and fourth respectively last season and enjoyed similar campaigns – stuttering starts, and a strong end before heavy defeats on the final day.
Now, all that is in the past and a fresh page awaits the chapters of the next nine months.
Hinckley will go into the game with a handful of new faces joining the bulk of last season’s squad that achieved that third-placed finish.
Courtney Hunter-Belford and Joe Conneely are hopeful that they will be close to full strength for the game, with a couple of injury niggles being assessed in the build-up.
The opposition
Last season was Spa’s first at step six but they took to their new level well with a fourth-placed finish. Like Hinckley, they have retained the vast majority of their playing group and added a handful of faces, including former Studley midfield man Max Loveridge.
Captain James Lemon and Connor Collins both passed the 20-goal mark last term and have signed on again for the new campaign, while their pre-season matches, rather like Hinckley’s, indicate plenty goals. Among their warm-up outings have been a 5-5 draw with Worcester City and a 4-4 stalemate with Lye Town, while Hinckley scored 25 goals in seven pre-season games but failed to keep a clean sheet.
Previous meetings
The trio of clashes between the sides last season were tight and well-contested, with a win each and seven goals each across the three games.
Hinckley won the league match at Kirkby Road 4-2, before Spa hit back with a 2-0 home success in February. The play-off match, a game of high-quality goals, ended 3-3 after a late Droitwich comeback before the visitors edged the penalty shoot-out.
From the dressing room
“The three games against Droitwich last season were three really competitive games. It’s a difficult one to say whether you want it this early or not but there’s no better game to start with, at home against a team who were a very good side last year.
We’ve watched them a bit during pre-season and they look similar to how they were last season. they’ve improved, we’ve tried to improve on what we had too. It should be the biggest crowd of the season as well, so we’ll look forward to it. Bring it on!”
Courtney Hunter-Belford
Admission prices
Adults: £6
Concessions: £4
Under 16s: £2 (FREE with HAFC Junior membership card)
Cash and card turnstiles available
