Hinckley AFC ended 2024 with back-to-back clean sheets as they played out a Boxing Day goalless draw with Lutterworth Town.
At a gloomy Dunley Way, AFC gained a battling point in a game where both defences were on top throughout on a heavy pitch that prevented either side’s creative players from gaining too much of an influence.
And it meant Hinckley played out their first 0-0 in the league for over two years, Nuneaton Griff in September 2022 the last AFC league game where the net failed to bulge.
Joe Conneely made four changes to the side that beat Godmanchester on Saturday – with Isa Abraham and Chandler Pegg making their first starts since injury and returning to the club respectively.
And Hinckley started the brighter of the two teams, but having the better of the play without being able to test home goalkeeper Callum Monaghan was a theme of the afternoon.
Lutterworth gained more of a foothold as the half wore on, and had the closest chance 10 minutes before the break. Ky Green went down with a head injury, but the referee played on and that allowed Elliot Butler to wriggle past a challenge and dig out a shot which clipped the outside of the post.
Green would last only a few further minutes before being replaced, his calendar year ending prematurely with the injury picked up in that passage of play.
Set pieces always felt like the most likely route to a goal in the conditions, and the sides exchanged jabs when Keelan Fallows held Ethan Baynham’s header from a corner, before Lewis Rankin bent a free-kick inches over the bar.
As the second half wore on, Fallows also blunted Matt Langham’s effort at his near post before Hinckley’s closest chance came 19 minutes from time – Zaki Evans’ cross deflected towards his own goal by Archie Wallace, forcing Monaghan into a superb fingertip save to keep parity.
But try as both sides might, a breaking of the deadlock never really felt likely and the sides will settle for a point apiece to see out the year.
Lutterworth: Callum Monaghan, Pierluigi Gyamfi, James Sanderson, Ethan Baynham, Shaun Leslie, Archie Wallace, Sam Leary (Brandon Williams 53), Harvey Westwood, Matt Langham, Elliot Butler, Benji Adomako. Subs not used: Brian Ndlovu, Ash Butler, Luke Wilson, Frankie Elmes.
Hinckley: Keelan Fallows, Jay D’Lionga, Adam Barber, Lucinee Donzo, Ky Green (Oli Szymanski 43), Lewis Rankin, Zaki Evans, Chandler Pegg (Bryan Kohyrelon 79), Luke Jones (Keaton Blackbird 82), Isa Abraham (Jared Bradshaw 57), Calum Flanagan.
Attendance: 250
