Coventry Copsewood 1-1 Hinckley AFC
Hinckley AFC were denied back to back league wins for the first time since October as Coventry Copsewood took a share of the spoils in a 1-1 draw at Allard Way.
In truth, a draw was a fair result in a game that saw neither goalkeeper called into action too often, and Hinckley were left to rue Ryan Seal’s missed penalty with the score at 0-0.
Marcus Jackson looked to have put the penalty miss behind Hinckley with his fine effort shortly before half time, but Ryan Harkin’s equaliser eight minutes into the second half restored parity to deny Hinckley all three points.
Making just one change from the side that beat Southam United last week, Hinckley took ten minutes to find their stride, but nearly took the lead when Alex Morris’ header was cleared off the line.
Their golden chance to break the deadlock came when Sean Williams was bundled over in the box, which gave Seal the chance from the penalty spot. The former Kirby Muxloe man had scored his previous three spot kicks for Hinckley, but Dale O’Donnell guessed correctly and palmed away this effort.
Not to be deterred, Carl Abbott’s side took the lead shortly after. O’Donnell was powerless to prevent Jackson’s superb individual strike from twenty yards beating his outstretched hand, and the ball nestled in the back of the net.
The second half saw extremely limited goalmouth action, but Copsewood equalised on 53 minutes with one of the few real opportunities as Harkin finished neatly from close range to level affairs again.
After that, Hinckley couldn’t fashion the chances to break down their resolute hosts. Copsewood didn’t allow AFC time on the ball, and in the end they comfortably held on for a well deserved point as Hinckley missed an opportunity to close the gap on sides above them.
Copsewood: Dale O’Donnell, Reese Blackmore, Stuart Adamson (Michael Healy), Craig Civzelis, George Whitelaw, Jordan Simms, Lawrence Rawlings, Liam Cairns, Ryan Harkin (Chris Wilson-King), Connoll Farrell (Sadi Ismail), Danny Fraser. Subs not used: Adam Civzelis, Sean Gaffney.
Goal: Ryan Harkin (53)
Hinckley: Tom Cross, Mitchell Tomlinson, Lee Thomas, Alex Penny, Alex Morris, Marcus Jackson, Sean Williams, Darious Darkin (Tom Bates 65), Greg Pearson (Marco Adaggio 70), Ryan Seal (Javia Roberts 70), Luke Richards. Subs not used: Kristian Ramsey-Dickson, JJ Melligan.
Goal: Marcus Jackson (35)
Attendance: 100
