Blank weekend leaves Hucknall Town smarting after home loss to Melton Town

This weekend's scheduled match with Grantham Town has been postponed due to their continued involvement in the FA Vase, so the Yellows have to wait until Saturday 20th away at Kimberley MW to play again.

The Melton game offered so much expectation after a superb performance against the Notts FA Senior Cup tie against Carlton Town when, after leading for most of the match, Hucknall went out on penalties.

“Saturday was possibly the most frustrating result of the season,” said Whitman.

“Although the lads were disappointed to lose against Carlton, we felt there was some optimism in the way we played which we could take into the weekend's game against Melton.

“Again, like most games, we started brightly. But our frailties from set pieces put us behind midway through the half.

“That goal then seemed to unsettle the belief and we were rash in our decisions costing us the penalty.

“We then seemed to relax and play our way and we got back into the game just before half-time. “This then set us up to approach the second half with momentum and we quickly got ourselves level from a well worked move.

“We felt from that point on we would go on to win the game but once again we were undone by a corner and that seemed to knock all our belief that we could get something out of the game.

“We did finish strong and pushed, which led to us being caught on transition - another area we have struggled with - which put the game to bed.

“It’s particularly frustrating, due to having regularly worked on set pieces and structure to prevent the goals on Saturday, but it’s all too common.

“We plan to work to put this right again in training this week, weather permitting.

“With having no game this weekend it allows a few lads that have had small injuries and illness to recover ready for selection next weekend.”

The best performance of the year so far from Melton moved them away from the relegation zone as they made it three away wins on the trot.

The deadlock was broken in the 25th minute as Alfie Smith-Eccles turned Toby Fura’s free kick around the upright, but the resulting corner found Ezekiel Danso lurking unmarked on the penalty spot to make a powerful header into the top corner.

Minutes later, Munakandafa was tripped by Aaron Short for a penalty and Kalis Gore sent the keeper the wrong way.

Hucknall halved the deficit in the 38th minute when Taylor Jaine picked up the ball midway in Melton’s half and went on a run past two defenders before his low shot crept into the far corner.

And minutes into the second half Hucknall were back level when Jaine beat Danso for pace before picking out Luis Parker unmarked in the box, and he slotted his effort into the bottom corner of the net.

The home team were now on top and hunting for a third, Joey Ashurst hitting the bar.

But in the 58th minute Munakandafa had a shot cleared off the line, and from the corner Dave Chapman's header beat the keeper for power.

On the hour Luis Parker had a shot from 20 yards out which smacked the crossbar.

But Melton put the game to bed late on when a quick counter from a Hucknall corner saw them go three on one and Theo Baker played the ball out to Andre Williams. He duly returned the ball for Baker to smash the ball past Smith-Eccles.