Hucknall Town's eight game unbeaten run is ended by Saffron Dynamo

Hucknall Town were beaten in an eight-goal thriller. Pic by Lee Fox

Having made a fast start against their Leicestershire opponents, the Yellows then conceded five goals before half-time which left them with a mountain to climb in the second period.

To Town’s credit, they improved after the break with just over 200 fans urging them on, but were unable to salvage any points from the United Counties League Division One game.

It took Hucknall just six minutes to take the lead in the match, with youngster Aaron Lamb netting his second goal for the club. The midfielder latched onto a long kick from Jake Pearson and flicked the ball past visiting keeper Ben Chapman before tapping into an empty net.

However, the hosts were only ahead for a very brief period of time after the ball slipped through Pearson’s gloves in the eighth minute as he attempted to collect Louis Kinnerley’s headed pass.

Kinnerley looked to get forward from left-back throughout the afternoon and caused Dynamo several problems as a result. In the 10th minute, he picked out Joe Ashurst with a floated cross, but the midfielder’s header flew just over the bar.

Ashurst went close again shortly afterwards, this time after receiving the ball from Grant Ryan, but his low effort narrowly missed the target.

The visitors put themselves in front not long before the 20-minute mark when striker Joe Wynder struck the ball past Pearson after turning nicely on the edge of the box. The Yellows looked to respond quickly through Ryan, but in truth, visiting keeper Chapman was not troubled too much for the rest of the first half.

In the 34th minute, Zaakir Bham found the top corner of Pearson’s net with a shot from a tight angle to score a third for the visitors, before Elliot Butler added a fourth ten minutes later.

Butler’s goal came after Hucknall had appealed strongly for a penalty to be given at the other end for handball, while there were also claims that a visiting player was in an offside position before the ball fell to Butler. However, the officials waved away both appeals and in turn caused great bemusement among the home supporters.

Dynamo went into the interval four goals in front thanks to Jamie Starbuck, who curled the ball into the top corner from range in the third minute of first-half stoppage time.

Hucknall reduced the deficit less than four minutes after the break when Kinnerley’s cross from the left flank was diverted into the net by visiting defender Jack Blanksby.

Despite being three goals behind, Town showed no signs of giving up and created a number of good opportunities in the second half. David Leak, who was making his second debut for the club after joining from Eastwood earlier this week, nodded wide of the post from Westcarr’s corner just before the hour mark. Leak’s centre-back partner Lenford Jenkins and Ryan also each went close from different set-piece scenarios.

Substitute Oliver Brown netted his second goal in as many games by drilling the ball past goalkeeper Chapman in second half stoppage-time, but the contest was unfortunately already over by that stage.

Shortly after the defeat, Yellows boss Andy Graves said: “To be honest I am not too concerned about the decisions that went against us, because we clearly didn’t play well enough in the first half. I’m more concerned about picking Jake [Pearson] up because he will take the brunt of the criticism.

“He knows he made some mistakes, but I am not going to crucify him and a few people probably need reminding that it’s 20 games since he’s been at fault for a goal.

“I thought our second half performance was fairly good. We went out and won the second half which was all I could ask for. It’s frustrating, but it’s one of those games that we’ve got to try and put to the side.

“I was pleased with the support that the lads got from the fans after half-time, because it could’ve quite easily gone the other way. Hopefully the fans will all come back on Wednesday night ready to make more noise because it really does give the players a helping hand.”

Hucknall: Pearson, Maxwell (Bartley 85’), Kinnerley, Sims (Brown 70’), Leak, Jenkins, Lamb, Banister (c) (Francis 74’), Westcarr, Ashurst, Ryan