Harriers began the defence of their League title with a point
from a game that they should have won.
Playing on a dreadfully uneven surface Harriers began the stronger
of the two teams but Hinckley took the lead against the run of play.
A pass through the centre of the Harriers defence caused trouble
and Adam Smallman found himself turned inside out by the Hinckley
striker who then tucked his shot into the bottom corner.
After this setback Harriers were knocked out of their stride for
a few minutes, but soon begn to regain control of the game and
dominated for long periods of the game. Debutant Terence Carpenter
three times forced good saves from the Hinckley 'keeper and Richard
Bailey brushed the crossbar with a cross-shot. Shortly before
the break Harriers were level, Dale James broke the middle and
played a neat 1-2 with Carpenter before planting the ball into
the back of the net.
The second half was played in a similar fashion, Harriers dominating
possession and should have converted more of it into clear cut
chances. The best chance fell to Hinckley, however, but John Danby
saved well and Phil Garner cleared the follow-up off the line. At
the other end Tom Willmore saw his effort saved, and substitute
Richard Langford twice put the ball over the bar. The game became
quite scrappy towards the end and fizzled out into a draw.
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