Abbo ‘Really Pleased’ with Opening Win

Hinckley AFC manager Carl Abbott described himself as ‘really pleased’ with a 4-2 victory in the club’s first ever match against divisional rivals Heather St John’s.
An early JJ Melligan brace, followed by a Craig Bannister strike, saw the club fly out of the blocks to race into a 3-0 lead.
Chris Sockett scored a fourth for Hinckley, sandwiched by goals from Heather’s Jimmy Slack and Shaun Pearson, which meant that the club started with a win.
Speaking after the match, Abbott said ‘I’m really pleased with the win.
‘What’s most pleasing is that when you get together a new group of players, and forge ideas and a style of play, it normally goes a little bit awry for the first few matches.
‘But today, the guys all picked up on what we were asking them to do. We played good football, we played out from the back, and we were brave in possession.’
However, Abbott says there are also areas to work on before the club’s Midland League First Division campaign starts on 2nd August.
‘I was a little bit disappointed with our work when we were out of possession. That’s got to improve.
‘We’re quite front-loaded in terms of quality and our numbers – we’re going to go at teams this year and try to score a lot of goals. The midfield guys have got to protect the back three.
‘Today, I think we went wandering a little bit too much. When we were out of possession, the players were thinking too much about what they were going to do when they got the ball back. I think we’ve got to work a little bit harder.
‘I think we showed today what we’re going to be about. We’re going to play the most attractive style in the league, there’s no doubt about that. Making that into a winning style is going to be the challenge.’