Hinton got off to a terrible start against a strong Mercia side after two own goals and a goal directly from a cross saw them 3-0 down in the first 15 minutes. The first goal for Mercia came from a corner which bobbled up and hit Mike Marsden on the knee and fired into the back of the Hinton net. The second goal came from some good work down the right flank which provided the opportunity for a cross where the Mercia right midfielder gained some luck and crossed the ball straight into the far post and into the goal. Moments later, a misunderstanding between centre back Steve Cuss and Keeper Jon Hopkins gifted Mercia their third goal after a simple header back bypassed the outrushing keeper.

It would be understandable to see Hinton's players head's drop but a strong, resilient fight back started when a good piece of skill allowed Jody Dawe to slot one past the keeper with his right foot. Hinton were right back in the game when a cross from the right was headed in at the back post by Rod Haslam to take the score to 3-2.  Hinton looked strong for 10 minutes until a slack bit of defending allowed the Mercia striker to get a shot in form the edge of the area which he tucked into the bottom corner.

At half time Hinton came out strongly and looked like the better side. The introduction of Ryan Newton gave Hinton more width and it wasn't long before the youngster had whipped in a good cross from the right onto the head of Haslam who guided it past the ailing keeper.

Hinton piled on the pressure and got their reward with only moments to spare when a deep cross from Matty Myles was headed by Haslam again and looped over the keeper for his hat trick headed goal. Hinton continued to press but could not find the winning goal.