Miserable 45 minutes as AFC concede five
HINCKLEY AFC threw away a two-goal half time lead as Chelmsley Town hit five in the second half at the Welfare Ground, writes Liam Gibbs.
All looked rosy for AFC at the break as Callum Willimont’s first for the club and Sam Belcher’s header gave them a comfortable lead at the midway point.
But a shambolic second half defensively saw a catalogue of errors which allowed the visitors to score five times and take what had looked an unlikely win.
For the first 45 minutes, it was a competitive game which Hinckley had the better of. The sides exchanged half chances before AFC opened the scoring on 17 minutes. The visiting defence failed to clear a corner, and Willimont fired a sweet strike into the top corner to open his account for the club.
Hinckley continued to threaten as Chris Hollist and Belcher both came close.
Chelmsley threatened an equaliser through Danny Brain, who called Yinka Adebowale into action for the first time, before Hinckley doubled their lead seven minutes before half time.
It came from the head of Belcher, who met Ryan’s cross with a looping effort which extended Hinckley’s advantage.
It should have set AFC on the way to a second home win of 2019, but instead the positives of the first 45 minutes were a distant memory compared to what was to follow.
The visitors brought on Ryan Conlon at the break in the hope of getting back into the game and immediately looked brighter for it – but they were given a huge helping hand by Hinckley’s back line.
Four minutes into the half it was 2-1, a long throw causing confusion and leading to Belcher’s clearance ricocheting off Hollist and into the net to give the visitors the boost they were after.
And that was a sign of things to come as they erased the deficit two minutes later, Conlon repaying his manager’s faith when he ran onto ‘keeper Peter Maguire’s launched clearance, in behind a static back line to level.
Just before the hour, it seemed that had given Hinckley the kick up the backside they needed when they restored their lead, when Ryan nodded home Chad Timson’s cross.
But again, it didn’t last - and just two minutes later Chelmsley scored another bizarre goal. Steve Sadler’s free kick from just inside the Hinckley half should have been innocuous, but no Hinckley player dealt with it and it sailed over everyone and into the back of the net.
After the manic first 15 minutes to start the second half, the game settled slightly after that and Hinckley looked the more likely winners. They should have taken the lead again with seven minutes to play but Ryan, through on goal, struck the outside of the post.
And in a game of fine margins, that cost Hinckley in stoppage time. The game was just into time added on when Brain put Chelmsley ahead for the first time from the edge of the box.
And with AFC chasing an equaliser, they sealed a dramatic win when Conlon ran from the halfway line to score his second of the game and wrap up a miserable 45 minutes for Hinckley.