Saturday 14 September 2002 - Middlefield Lane - kick off 3.00pm Dr Martens Premier Division

Despite making just one personnel change - Dan Cleverley in for the injured Adrian Foster - from their best performance of the season so far against Halesowen five days earlier City were always second best to a physical - though never overly so - United side. The early stages of the game saw both sides produce little in the way of constructive football. With Frankie Bennett and Andy Williams seeing little of the ball what attacking intent came from the Knitters. Jim Rollo was forced into a hurried clearance over his own bar after eight minutes and Sadler sliced a shot well wide shortly afterwards. Another half chance was spurned by Sadler when he failed to collect Crowley's long pass on 16 minutes. In truth it looked as if both sides hadn't registered a victory all season, rather than just the hosts, although after Gary's Kemp brave header had denied Mitchell a chance City finally began to use their most dangerous players by getting the ball out wide. One Bennett cross was easily collected by keeper Afandiyev after 27 minutes but five minutes later City took the lead. Fittingly with what had gone before it was a somewhat scrappy goal. Jason Eaton's left wing cross got the faintest touch from Cleverley, Afandiyev failed to collect and Bennett turned the ball home. Understandly this breakthrough preceded City's best spell in the match. The Azerbaijan keeper redeemed himself slightly after 39 minutes, blocking Williams' shot with his legs after the player had ran onto a Eaton flick. As half time approached Iain Harvey made his only real impact on the game, other than receiving his third caution of the season, firing in a 25 yard shot that Afandiyev saved well.

Whether City made a conscious descision to sit back on their lead or the home side forced them into that position was unclear but the end result was the same - Hinckley began to control the game. For the opening 20 minutes of the half it appeared that City might manage to weather this storm as for all their possession United failed to really test Mark Bryant. However, this resistance was finally broken in the 67th minute. A free-kick some 30 yards from goal was curled in low by O'Toole. Bryant did exceptionally well to get across and parry the ball only to watch helplessly as the rebound fell to Sadler, who made no mistake from three yards out. It then got worse for City and their unlucky keeper two minutes later. Another O'Toole shot forced Bryant into action but again the ball fell kindly to the Leicestershire side allowing Penny to head home. With 20 minutes still remaining City should have been able to find a way back into the game but time and time again they resulted to long balls forward that, even with the arrival of Paul Milsom from the bench, never looked like troubling Penny and his fellow defenders. As if to prove the point the one clear chance City did fashion involved Williams and Bennett. The formers deep cross picked out the latter at the far post. He had the time and space to bring the ball down only to blast it wide of the gaping goal. With City committed to pressing forward they were caught out by a long clearance toward Sadler two minutes into stoppage time. Kemp chased the striker back on to haul him to the ground as he set himself to shoot. A clear penalty and Fox sent Bryant the wrong way to complete the scoring.