Hinckley AFC’s second of back-to-back home games to start the new season sees the visit of Leicestershire rivals Heather St John’s on Monday night.
After Saturday’s superb win over Droitwich Spa, Joe Conneely and Courtney Hunter-Belford will ready the squad for a quick turnaround that sees the second of two home games in three days.
And after five years without meeting in a competitive fixture, Heather St John’s make the short trip from North West Leicestershire looking for the early season points.
The opposition
Back at this level after four years at step five, Heather were relegated from the United Counties Premier North last term after finishing second from bottom. They kicked off the new season with a 2-1 win at Wolves Sporting on Saturday.
They have appointed a new manager and a raft of new players this summer, with a handful of the Barrow Town squad heading to St John’s Park after their resignation from the United Counties League.
Previous meetings
The two sides haven’t met in a competitive game since December 2018, when Heather won 5-1 at The Welfare Ground on their way to the Division One title. The reverse fixture that season was a 2-2 draw in August, while the Simon Blyth Memorial Trophy fixture at the start of this pre-season saw Hinckley take the trophy with a 5-2 win.
From the dressing room
“We have a quick turnaround and have to go again. We’ll recover and be bang at it. We’ll see what we fall on in terms of players and see who’s fit. I doubt we’ll get any of the injured players back – we’ll see how Jack Edwards is but probably not. We will have Mitch (Piggon) back who’s been on holiday.
We’re a month on (from the pre-season friendly at Heather), and we’ve both got new players since then. Friendlies are friendlies, they’re good for minutes but you don’t get anything for them and it’s all about doing it when there are points on the board. It’ll be a tough game. We’ve got a good relationship with Heather but it’s a derby – we want to beat them and they’ll want to come here and beat us.”
Joe Conneely
Admission prices
Adults: £6
Concessions: £4
Under 16s: £2 (FREE with HAFC Junior membership card)
Cash and card turnstiles available
