REPORT: Hinckley 2-2 Quorn (3-4 on Penalties)
Quorn made a long-overdue return to County Cup action with an entertaining win on penalties after a last gasp equaliser for Hinckley.
Despite making nine changes from the weekend, and handing out four debuts, the Reds looked lively to start the match, with crisp passing, pace and energy on display. The hosts worked their way into the game and soon took a stranglehold of proceeding, though Quorn’s centre half pairing of Kane Auld and Jasper Tetlow snubbed out most chances.
The best of the early chances came from a free kick that wasn’t cleared as Hinckley crashed a shot off the crossbar. Quorn were able to play on the break and Jonathan De Lacerda forced a save from Divin Emmanuel. Josh Allen played Leo Farruch through, but again the keeper was alert, forcing him wide, where he couldn’t get a shot on target.
Allen linked up with Farruch again a few moments later as the latter was brought down to deny him a chance to get a shot off, resulting in a yellow card, and a free kick. Though the Reds had been creating plenty of opportunities, Hinckley had owned the majority possession and finally translated that dominance into a goal on the half hour.
Quorn’s backline had all stepped up but Hinckley beat the offside trap and Bryan Kohyrelon was left alone to steer the ball past Tom Allsopp. Hinckley could have had a second before the break when they won the ball in midfield and transferred quickly into attack mode. Jack Edwards had time and space but Allsopp made himself big between the posts to deny him.
The break came at a good time for Quorn and the Reds came out quickly in the second half. Josh Allen chased down a booming clearance from Allsopp, and his pressure forced two defenders and Emmanuel to react, all three coming for the bouncing ball with Alex Vineall getting the final touch and heading into his own net just before the hour mark.
Three minutes later Quorn turned the tie on it’s head as Farruch provided the moment of the night, twisting and turning into the box and shooting from the angle to give Quorn the lead. Mitch White almost had a third when he struck a half-volley that Emmanuel did well to get down to.
Allsopp had to be at his best to maintain the lead, making a string of fine saves as Hinckley looked for a way back in to the match. With a string of lengthy stoppages the match began to feel a little disjointed but Hinckley gathered themselves for a final push, throwing everything forward as the match moved into stoppage time.
Finally, in the 94th minute, Josh Beeson managed to force the eqauliser in, following a couple of desperate goalmouth scrambles. The draw seemed a fair result and Referee Minesh Gupta blew the final whistle moments later, sending the game to penalties.
Sam Belcher was up first for the hosts and put them in the lead, but Reece Fyfe stepped up and levelled the shootout. Allsopp got down to deny Jared Bradshaw and Cain Noble gave Quorn the lead. Jack Edwards got Hinckley back on track but White scored his spot-kick to maintain the slender lead. Joe Obi kept it interesting with a solid penalty, but Oscar Marshall confidently stroked home his spot kick to give Quorn one foot in the quarter-final.
Allsopp would have the final word, getting over to his right and saving the final spot kick as Quorn moved on, 4-3 in the shootout. The next round draw is likely to place in early November and we’ll bring details of our quarter-final tie as soon as possible.