Hinckley emerged victorious from a thrilling tie to make progress in the League Cup at the expense of Aylestone Park at Kirkby Road last night.
Games between these county rivals are never dull, and this one certainly lived up to the billing.
AFC scored twice in quick succession midway through the second half before Aylestone laid siege on the home goal in the closing stages. They pulled one back and came desperately close to levelling, but Hinckley prevailed.
Park made the early running and Keelan Fallows made three fine saves to thwart them with Tayo Tucker blazing a rebound over when he should have scored.
The first half was intriguing as both sides passed the ball well but goalmouth action was limited, AFC’s best effort coming when Zach Tellyn produced a surging run before releasing Louis Baker, whose effort was blocked by Liam Castle.
The sides traded chances early in the second half. Jared Bradshaw was twice denied, initially by a defender’s block before Castle clawed away the rebound whilst at the other end, Louis Samuels fired over after good work from Evan Kane on the right.
Aylestone were starting to look increasingly dangerous as they forced a couple of corners but it was Hinckley who took control of the game with a couple of quickfire goals. The first was a cracker, the ever improving Tellyn scored for the fourth game in a row as he curled home a beauty into the top corner from 25 yards.
Six minutes later, they doubled their lead as Bradshaw received the ball in a crowded penalty area and showed deft footwork to create a chance for himself that he guided low into the far corner.
That was the signal for Aylestone to dominate the final twenty minutes but Hinckley stood up to the challenge and stayed strong defensively with Fallows’ handling assured behind them. They earned a little bit of good fortune too when Jake Wormleighton’s shot crashed off the underside of the bar but the well-placed Assistant Referee ruled it didn’t cross the line.
The announcement of nine added minutes gave Aylestone a further boost and they gave themselves a chance four minutes into that period when Andres Articolo scored.
Nails were bitten and nerves shredded as AFC continued to defend manfully, and they survived a post being struck before the final whistle finally sounded to herald a hard fought victory.
Hinckley: Keelan Fallows, Lucinee Donzo, James Sanderson, Reece Massey, Jacob Shilton, Chandler Pegg (Will Harris 65), Jared Bradshaw (Jake Tullin 88), Caleb Yeboah, Louis Baker, Jordan Clement, Zach Tellyn (Henley Hadley 88). Sub not used: Lewis Rankin
Goals: Zach Tellyn (64), Jared Bradshaw (73)
Aylestone: Liam Castle, Charley Kilburn, Andres Articolo, Sam Preston, Justin Peace, Jake Wormleighton, Corey Armeni, Sam Lockley (Joe Ball 38), Evan Kane, Louis Samuels, Tayo Tucker (Nigel Julian 65). Subs not used: Hayden Stephens, Declan Towers, Lee Barratt.
Goal: Andres Articolo (94)
Attendance: 182
