Heather St John’s 2-4 Hinckley AFC

An historic new dawn is emerging for football in Hinckley.
It was apt that exactly nine months after Hinckley United played their last match, the new club in the town, Hinckley AFC, played their first in a 4-2 victory at Heather St John’s.
It was also appropriate that Heather were the opposition for the club’s inaugural fixture – the Saints are providing Hinckley with a home for this season whilst legal issues surrounding the old Leicester Road ground continue.
And the club’s first footballing activity could not have gone any better.
Club captain JJ Melligan became the Hinckley AFC’s first goal scorer early on – he converted Luke Richards’ cut back after a touch from Craig Bannister.
The same player then added a second from the penalty spot, after a Heather defender handled in the area.
Bannister added a third midway through the first half after a goalmouth scramble, before Jimmy Slack pulled one back for Heather just before half time.
Both teams made wholesale changes at half time, with Hinckley even changing from their home kit of red and blue to their violet and white away strip.
Chris Sockett put Hinckley 4-1 up with a stunning strike after 53 minutes, but the scoring was completed by Heather’s Shaun Pearson with a late consolation goal.
Despite this, it was a very satisfactory day for football in Hinckley.