Hinckley AFC fell to a narrow defeat as Daventry Town rode out significant second-half pressure to hold on to a 1-0 scoreline at Kirkby Road.
Hinckley controlled much of the last hour after falling behind, but hit the bar, had one cleared off the line and saw two other shots denied by flying blocks Daventry defended their lead manfully.
In the end, Merson Styles’ long-range strike won it for the visitors, whose second-half defensive effort was led superbly by Paul Malone, the Harborough Town centre-back who is suspended at step three after a red card, but a loophole in the rules means he is eligible for step five football during that suspension period.
Hinckley, meanwhile, handed a first start of the season to fit-again goalkeeper Carl O’Neill while captain Jack Edwards returned from his ban.
Daventry are one of the league’s fancied sides for many this season, and after an even first ten minutes, they took control of the game. They forced a series of corners, and took the lead from one of them with the game’s first real chance on 18 minutes.
O’Neill’s punch cleared the initial danger, but the recycled ball fell to Styles 25 yards out, who took a couple of touches before firing through a mass of bodies and beyond the unsighted goalkeeper.
The visitors grew in confidence from that and nearly scored a stunning second, former Hinckley striker Sam Lockley connecting cleanly with an overhead kick that flew narrowly wide.
But AFC grew into the half the longer it went on, and after Collins Tanor’s daisy-cutter went just wide, visiting ‘keeper Lewis Patching’s first save was an excellent one, a fingertip stop to divert Lewis Rankin’s free-kick.
Hinckley started the second half as they finished the first, and came close nine minutes after the break when Styles flung himself in front of Edwards’ shot that was destined for goal.
They had lots of possession, but didn’t create too much until a flurry of chances on the 70-minute mark. Patching handled outside his area but got away without a booking, and Rankin struck the underside of the bar from the resulting set piece.
Then, strong penalty claims for a foul on Isa Abraham were waved away by the referee, Patching made a close-range save and Riley Davoile’s follow-up was bent past the ‘keeper but was headed off the line by Kelvin Moyo.
Davoile then bent another chance narrowly wide in a similar situation as Hinckley knocked at the door.
But Daventry stood firm, even when they went down to 10 men when Luke Knight, who was booked earlier in the half for delaying the re-start, picked up a second yellow for a mistimed tackle on Abraham.
Abraham then had a shot blocked from close range as you wondered if it was going to be one of those days for Hinckley.
And so it proved – Daventry went down to nine men in stoppage time when Jack Ashton bundled Josh Beeson over to pick up his second booking, but that came too late for Hinckley to really take advantage and the visitors clung on for their fourth win in five games.
Hinckley: Carl O’Neill, Jack Edwards, Adam Barber, Collins Tanor, Fionn O’Brien (Joe Obi 37), James Bryson, Lewis Rankin, Zach Tellyn, Bryan Kohyrelon (Josh Beeson 64), Luke Jones (Riley Davoile 68), Brady Middleton (Isa Abraham 59). Sub not used: Harry Walker-Donovan.
Daventry: Lewis Patching, Callum Westwood, Merson Styles (Kelvin Moyo 58), Paul Malone, Jack Ashton, Sam Lockley (Matteo Rinaldi 85), Luke Knight, Dodzi Agbenu, Dylan Wilson (David Gbehe 68), George Mitchell-Gears, Cosmin Capatina (Dylan McGinley 91). Sub not used: Archie May.
Goal: Merson Styles (18)
Attendance: 248
