Wolves Sporting 2-1 Hinckley AFC

Wolves Sporting recorded their tenth home win in a row to condemn Hinckley AFC to a 2-1 defeat in the JW Hunt Cup.

In an even first half, the home side scored on the stroke of the interval through Jonathan Letford to hold a slender advantage at the break.

And the second half was a tale of two penalties – Sporting’s Dan Westwood scoring what turned out to be the winner from twelve yards just two minutes after Ryan Seal equalised for Hinckley with a spot kick of their own.

With injuries still prominent in his squad, Carl Abbott said the game was an opportunity to have a look at potential new additions to his squad, and handed debuts to Chris Gray and Alando Lewis while Trovarn Thompson also started for the first time.

Throughout the first half there were chances at both ends, and both sides will feel they could have scored early on. Sam Arnold prevented Wolves taking the lead with a fine save from Westwood, before Lewis fired over with the goal gaping at the other end.

Then, Marcus Jackson fired a powerful effort across the face of goal, before Sporting took the lead in first half stoppage time. Oli Basham’s miskick allowed Letford the chance, and he made no mistake by rounding Arnold and slotting home.

Hinckley applied more pressure in the second half, but lacked a cutting edge in the final third. After a fine save by Luke Stevens in the home goal, the impressive Jackson’s cross-shot fizzed narrowly wide of the post as Hinckley sought an equaliser.

And as time started to run out, Hinckley thought they had forced extra time with eight minutes to go. Shaquille Reid’s poor tackle gifted Hinckley the chance from the spot, and Seal made no mistake by slamming home the resulting penalty.

But just two minutes later, Sporting scored with a penalty of their own. Josh Sarmento’s impressive run was cut short by a foul in the box, and Westwood converted the spot kick to send his side through to the next round and knock Hinckley out of the competition.

Hinckley: Sam Arnold, Marcus Jackson, Lee Thomas, Alex Penny, Oli Basham, Chris Gray, Jason Wood (Kristian Ramsey-Dickson 71), Darious Darkin, Ryan Seal, Trovarn Thompson (Luke Pinnock 71), Alando Lewis. Sub not used: Elikem Amenku