Sonny Sheasby’s first goal after a long injury saw Hinckley AFC get their home season off and running with a win over Leicester Nirvana.
With the game finely poised, Sheasby made the decisive impact with 11 minutes to go by hammering home from 10 yards to earn Hinckley all three points in front of a strong 261 crowd at Kirkby Road.
How the game had made it that far without a goal was a mystery – Hinckley hit the post and saw a goal disallowed while Nirvana had one cleared off the line and both sides missed good chances that meant the game could have gone either way.
But Hinckley had more of the ball and the territory and will feel it’s a win they deserved as they pick up their first Premier North points.
Hinckley made three changes from the side that started at Newark on Saturday and Charlie Williams, Najeem Oriola and Chandler Pegg all made impacts as AFC started the game on the front foot.
Pegg was just beaten to a through ball by goalkeeper Liam Castle, who let it through his grasp as Nirvana scrambled clear, and Castle then tipped wide from Luke Jones as Hinckley sought the early goal.
Hinckley’s best chance, though came midway through the half when a corner fell loose in the box but Gabe Webster blazed over from 10 yards.
Nirvana then came into it more, and had the best chances of the half shortly afterwards. Lamar Parkes spurned both of them, shifting onto his right foot on the edge of the box both times before firing wide of either post.
It was a game played at a good tempo, both sides looking to get on the ball, but there was a competitive edge too and tempers flared when a shoulder-high challenge on Pegg went unpunished.
Castle then started to get worked more either side of half time – firstly a comfortable stop from Dan Edmonds’ prod, and he then tipped wide Williams’ strike from range.
That led to a flurry of corners as Hinckley started to really threaten – Webster rattled the post from the resulting set piece, Edmonds saw one diverted just wide from close range from another corner, and the one that followed that was scrambled in by Edmonds at close range after Castle couldn’t hold it, but was disallowed for offside.
Having rode out that spell with a degree of fortune, Nirvana grew in confidence again around the midway point of the half. Their first two substitutes both went close – Webster made a terrific goalline clearance from Evandro Sanches and then Alec Hill raced out quickly to block from Ali Ashkir who found space in the right channel.
It looked increasingly like one goal might win it, and it came with 11 minutes remaining. Nirvana sub Kairo Edwards-John thought he’d have a chance of running through but was denied by the offside flag, and it was another replacement forward who made the impact less than a minute later.
Sheasby battled Felix Fombon for a bouncing ball, the centre-back didn’t deal with it well and Sheasby took full advantage to get the wrong side and hammer home from 10 yards, before wheeling away for a long-awaited celebration after missing almost the whole of last season through injury.
Now with a lead to protect, Hinckley set about defending it and they did it well – Hill claimed a couple of magnificent catches under pressure and the back four withstood Nirvana pressure manfully. Edwards-John fired a free kick narrowly over and, with the game in stoppage time, the same player’s cross-shot picked out Kyle Tott, who was denied at close range by Hill.
And Hinckley saw the game out to record a first 1-0 win at home for nearly four years and get the campaign off and running with a Leicestershire derby win.
Hinckley: Alec Hill, Lewis Warnaby, Gabe Webster, Najeem Oriola, Jacob Shilton, Max Jemson, Charlie Williams (Fin Barker 90), Matt Brown (Zach Tellyn 66), Chandler Pegg (Sonny Sheasby 66), Dan Edmonds (Jake Brown 80), Luke Jones (Zaki Evans 72).
Goal: Sonny Sheasby (79)
Nirvana: Liam Castle, Kyle Tott, Kelly Fombad, Jordan Smith, Felix Fombon, Liam Taylor, Tamar Clayton-Naute, Jorrin John (Ali Ashkir 60), Lamar Parkes (Kairo Edwards-John 72), Josh Allen (Evandro Sanches 60), Mussa Bham (Alvin Magagada 72). Sub not used: Nkosinathi Ncube.
Attendance: 261
