Hinckley AFC made a triumphant return to the Emirates FA Cup with a comfortable victory over Highgate United to earn a place in the Preliminary Round.
The tie was effectively won shortly after half time when Zach Tellyn converted his second penalty of the afternoon, adding to Josh Beeson’s early goal, and the game drifted towards a conclusion before Bassit Mandey scored a consolation for United deep into time added on.
After an early scare when Adam Barber tidied up well after Divin Emmanuel’s miskick, Hinckley quickly got into their stride. The pace of Beeson and strength of Bryan Kohyrelon caused the visiting defence problems, and they combined for the first goal on seven minutes. Kohyrelon made good ground with a powerful run on the right before squaring the ball across the face of goal for Beeson to score.
Moments later, Beeson’s pace took him clear of the Highgate defence but keeper Kobi Brooks raced out of his area to block before Brooks produced a fine save, clawing away Riley Davoile’s 20 yard shot at full stretch.
Tellyn enjoyed a fine game, he drove a shot over the angle before playing a ball over the top for Beeson who lobbed off target, and as AFC sought to make their pressure count, Davoile was denied by an excellent block on the goal line from Dominic Savolainen.
That crucial second goal came just before half time, once again Kohyrelon proved too hot to handle as he was fouled in the area by Dylan Hayes and Tellyn tucked away his spot kick.
Hinckley soon put the game to bed after the break with another penalty, a soft award when Beeson went down in the area and Tellyn again converted with composure.
Both sides made a raft of substitutions to freshen things up on an increasingly warm afternoon and the second half was a scrappy affair before Highgate grabbed a consolation deep into time added on when Mandey scored.
That goal didn’t diminish a fine afternoon for this new look Hinckley side who can now look forward to a home tie against step four side Malvern Town in a couple of weeks.
Hinckley: Divin Emmanuel, Jay D’Lionga, Adam Barber, Harry Walker-Donovan, Joe Obi (Alex Vineall 68), Oliwier Szymanski, Zach Tellyn (Jack Edwards 85), Zaki Evans (Brady Middleton 58), Bryan Kohyrelon (Elliot Edwards 57), Riley Davoile, Josh Beeson (Luke Jones 70). Subs not used: Shay Durkan, Lewis Rankin.
Goals: Josh Beeson (7), Zach Tellyn (38 pen, 47 pen)
Highgate: Kobi Brooks, James Richardson, Nathan Pulisciano, Dylan Hayes (George Elwell 68), Dominic Savolainen, Linton Chakki (Courtney Richards 55), Bassit Mandey, Taylor Needs (Tyree Samuel 65), Randy Osei, Ethan Bracher (Gerson Ladila 55), Kyle Hayden (Patrick McGrory 75). Subs not used: Harry Jennings, Aaron Brown.
Goal: Bassit Mandey (89)
Attendance: 227
