LRFC denied win by second half fightback
HINCKLEY were denied all three points and had to settle for a draw after a late Halesowen Town fight back.
Neil Lyne and his squad can consider themselves to be very unlucky not to have hung on for all three points against high flying Halesowen Town.
Hinckley kicked off in positive mood and took the game to Halesowen. Hinckley created the first chance of the game with good play down the left and a cross which Jarred Acton was unlucky not to connect with.
Hinckley’s next attack saw them awarded a penalty after former Leicester Road player Nathaniel Kelly handled inside the box. Skipper Danny Jenno stepped up and confidently dispatched the spot kick into the bottom corner to put Hinckley 1-0 up after seven minutes.
Hinckley continued to dominate the middle of the park with Jo Lyne and Simon Alcott breaking down every Halesowen advance and turning possession into attack. When Halesowen did get forward they were thwarted on every occasion by the resilient back line of Jarred Acton, Danny Jenno, Ben Humphreys and Callum Earls.
The dominance of the game continued as Hinckley raided the Halesowen goal from both flanks as well as down the middle. This time Callum Earls played in Liam Read who squared the ball to Dom Brennan who was brought down in the box leaving the well positioned referee no choice but to award Hinckley a second penalty. Once again skipper Danny Jenno stepped up and confidently dispatched the spot kick into the bottom corner to put Hinckley 2-0 up after 31 minutes.
Hinckley carried on their total domination of the game with their swift passing and move style of football. In the next attack Dom Brennan was denied the third goal after the Halesowen keeper tipped his curling shot over the bar, thrn Simon Alcott was found beautifully inside the 6-yard box with a delightful cross from Lewis Jones but his downward header was brilliantly saved by the Halesowen keeper in the same way Gordon Banks denied Pele in the 1970 world cup.
Halesowen were sent out early after the half-time break whilst Hinckley decided to replace Lewis Jones with Yeagan Gore.
Halesowen started to get into the game in the second half but were finding it virtually impossible to breach Hinckley’s formidable rear guard quartet and it was 68 minutes before they had their first shot on target which Will Highland comfortably dealt with.
Halesowen continued to press as the match started to draw to a close. They attacked from the left and Hinckley failed to clear the cross which was then clipped back across the goal for their centre forward Richard Gregory to meet and head into the bottom corner to make it 2-1 after 77 minutes.
Halesowen continued to throw everything at Hinckley as the game started to draw to a close. Halesowen attacked again and Hinckley failed to clear a cross which was clipped back in Gregory headed home to make it 2-2 after 85 minutes.
With both teams eager not to give away another goal this exciting end to end fixture fizzled out and ended all square.