HINCKLEY UNITED 1-1 VAUXHALL MOTORS

Attendance: 343

By ANDY GIBBS at THE GREENE KING STADIUM

A FRUSTRATING afternoon for United’s supporters who watched as their team record their third draw in four games and whilst the previous two stalemates against Droylsden and Telford were regarded as a point gained, this was certainly a case of two points dropped.

The Knitters passed the ball well at times and enjoyed long spells of possession, but they lacked a cutting edge where it counts in the final third and for all their control, Hinckley failed to test the wonderfully monikered Danzelle St Louis Hamilton in the Vauxhall goal as often as they would have liked.

The Motormen men were content to soak up the home pressure and nick something on the counter, and after Adam Webster put United in front, Vauxhall’s plan came off when Lee Furlong levelled it up with 20 minutes remaining, and try as they might, Hinckley couldn’t force a winner.

The game got off to a slow start with little incident until midway through the first half when Vauxhall came within a whisker of taking the lead, Josh Hines’ shot striking the inside of a post with the rebound falling to Jonathon Egerton who shot wide when he should have hit the target.

That miss roused the home side who then struck the frame of the goal themselves, a wonderful volley from Chukki Eribenne that beat Hamilton but thudded back off a post. That sparked a good spell for Hinckley either side of half-time, Neil Cartwright played a neat one-two with Eribenne before shooting narrowly wide and on the stroke of half-time, another Cartwright effort was kicked off the line by Lee Dames.

Within two minutes of the re-start United were in front as their new front pairing combined to good effect, Eribenne chasing down a ball on the left hand bye-line before pulling back a low cross that was finished by WEBSTER from 10 yards.

That should have been the signal for Hinckley to put the game to bed but though their approach play was good, they couldn’t force home a decisive second. Andy Hall whipped in a great cross from the right that Eribenne glanced off target and Cartwright curled another long range effort wide. Those missed opportunities meant Vauxhall were still in the game and they levelled on 70 minutes. Somewhat against the run of play, Vauxhall mounted an attack, some hesitant defending saw the ball fall to Craig Davies on the edge of the area, his shot was parried by Chris MacKenzie and substitute FURLONG buried the loose ball.

Hinckley mounted more pressure to try and restore their lead but the winner remained elusive. Matt West saw his low shot saved by Hamilton, Webster had a couple of efforts blocked and Alex Taylor headed wide when Cartwright was better placed behind him. For all that pressure, United might have been punished further in time added on, Karl Noon found himself free in the box but his shot was saved by MacKenzie’s legs and the points were shared.

HINCKLEY UNITED: MacKenzie, Mace, Lister, Lavery, Collins, Franklin, Hall (Taylor, 80), Gooding, Webster, Eribenne (West, 72), Cartwright. Subs not used: Dillon, Hamilton, Storer