FA Cup run is up
Heanor Town 5 Hinckley AFC 1
HINCKLEY AFC crashed out of the Emirates FA Cup as a shambolic display of defending gifted Heanor Town a route into the preliminary round, writes Liam Gibbs.
In truth, the game was never a contest once Nathan Benger had given Heanor the lead. Benger netted a first half hat-trick and Heanor were 4-0 up by half-time as they took advantage of a catalogue of errors at the back.
Kieran Debrouwer scored the fifth after the break, and Sam Agar bagged a consolation late on.
The warning signs were there for Hinckley just seven minutes in. AFC didn’t deal with a Heanor corner and after a brief scramble, Arash Abdollahi’s effort was blocked on the line as Heanor knocked on the door.
And for the next half hour, the hosts didn’t so much break down the door as have it opened wide for them.
The opening goal came 18 minutes in. From Keenan Layton’s pass, Benger scuffed a shot into the ground which bounced over Tom Cross and inside the far post.
Midway through the half, Heanor doubled their lead. Hinckley gave the ball away in the middle of the park and after neat build up play Debrouwer converted from close range.
Then, from a Hinckley free-kick on the edge of their own box, Cross’ stray pass gave the ball straight to Benger, who couldn’t believe his luck as he slotted into the empty net.
Harvey’s fine recovering tackle denied Reeves a chance for a fourth, but the relief was only momentary. From the resulting corner, Benger was allowed a free header and he made no mistake in securing his treble.
The second half was a non-event. Ten minutes in, Debrouwer beat the onrushing Cross to the ball, taking it round the keeper to score Heanor’s fifth.
Only in the last minutes did Hinckley show anything. Agar saw a snapshot well saved by Joe McCormack and Sean Williams’ fierce drive thundered into the crossbar as AFC sought a consolation.
It came a minute into stoppage time when Agar converted a low cross from the right, too late to prevent AFC’s heaviest defeat since August 2014.