Worksop Town trip for AFC in FA Cup

HINCKLEY AFC will travel to Worksop Town in the extra preliminary round of the Emirates FA Cup after the draw was made at Wembley Stadium.

Members of the Northern Counties East League Premier Division, one level higher than AFC, the team known as the Tigers finished 13th in their league last season and have recently appointed a new manager in Ryan Hindley.

The match will take place on Saturday August 5 at Worksop’s Sandy Lane ground, with the winners hosting Heanor Town or Aylestone Park a week later.

The club also received confirmation that they will be exempt from the Buildbase FA Vase until the second round proper after their run to the fifth round last season, which ended when Buckland Athletic knocked them out just four ties away from Wembley.

The draws came the day before Saturday’s Simon Blyth Memorial Trophy match against Heather St John’s, where Tom Cullen’s second half goal meant Heather lifted the trophy in its inaugural season.

The game brought together a number of legends of Hinckley football for the afternoon and all took to the field to play for the trophy named in memory of the AFC supporter who lost his battle with cancer earlier this year.

The 126 spectators who gathered saw Hinckley start the game strongly. AFC had plenty of chances in the first half, but despite looking promising they couldn’t break the deadlock.

They found the Heather keeper in fine form and the closest Carl Abbott’s side came was when Isaac Cooper’s long range strike struck the bar.

Hinckley made a number of changes at the interval, with Hinckley United legends Jamie Lenton, Stuart Storer and Dean Thomas all playing a part after half time. The game was more even after the break and Heather took the lead when Cullen’s lofted finish from just inside the penalty area nestled in the back of the net.

And AFC had no real chances of note after the goal, meaning Heather captain Greg Webb lifted the trophy at the end of the 90 minutes.