Atletico win away with a last minute Justin Nisbett wonder goal, after Copsewood had
defended in numbers following a first half sending off.
Hinckley travelled to Coventry Copsewood, who's goals against column indicated they would
be a tough opponent to break down, and so it proved on the day. The early exchanges were
even with Mitch Tomlinson timing his tackle perfectly in the area to deny Connell Farrell,
and JJ Melligan saw his goalbound header well saved. The match was ended as a spectacle
on 15 minutes with a bizarre decision from the ref. Daniel Fraser and Rob Millington went
in for a 50/50 tackle on the touch line, and it seemed the only decision would be to work
out who's throw in it would be.To teh amazement of everybody in the ground the ref took
Fraser to the side and showed him a straight red card. Copsewood were understandably incensed,
but it also meant their play became even more defensive. So play continued with Copsewood
sitting back allowing Hinckley to attack and trying to catch AFC on the break. This was a
successful tactic as just before half time John Clapp bundled over Lawrence Rawlings, but
as he pointed to the spot, the ref noticed his linesman had flagged for offside and Atletico
were lucky to get away with a free kick for the earlier infringement.
The second half continued in much the same form, with AFC pushing forward and Coventry looking
for breakaway chances. Mitch Campbell had to be alert to get behind Marco Addagio's
shot from outside the area, then smothered a JJ Melligan effort, pulling out a great save to
parry a 'powerdriver' from Nathan Walker after he'd been teed up by Matt Gardner. Sam Arnold
was called into action in a rare attack from Copsewood as he saved well, first from Liam Cairns
and then Farrell as the game entered the last 10 minutes. Just when it looked as
if Hinckley would fail to break down the solid Coventry defence, second half sub Nisbett
struck a superb volley to win the game. Ross Clarke played in a corner and Andy Wilson-King
could only half clear with the ball dropping to Nisbett 15 yards out, who volleyed past
the stranded Campbell winning the match for Atletico.
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Coventry Copsewood match details
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