Chuter’s men bounce back
AFTER a disappointing performance against Sedgeley Park, Hinckley got back to winning ways with an eight try demolition of Sheffield Tigers.
Captain Alex Salt led from the front with a first half hat-trick as the Black and Ambers recorded their biggest ever victory at Level 4, a game in which the Tigers side were simply blown away.
Sheffield kicked off but were immediately on the back foot as Hinckley stole possession and forced a penalty which Joe Wilson kicked to the corner.
Possession was secured, the ball driven to within five metres, and recycled before Salt eventually dived over to open the scoring on two minutes. Joe Wilson converted.
Three minutes later, Wilson extended the lead after James Martin had broken out of Hinckley’s 22 with a superb run which resulted in a penalty on the Tigers 10m line.
Wilson added three more on nine minutes after Tigers were penalised on their own 22 after failing to hold the Hinckley scrum.
A minute later, Tigers lock Aaron Langan was shown a yellow card for an offence in the ruck.
Hinckley sought to capitalise forcing the depleted Tigers back into their own 22 with a series of carries
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Alex Salt eventually went over for his second which Wilson converted to take the score to 20-0 after only 14 minutes.
That became 25-0 just three minutes later when Callum Dacey danced over the line to end a move that started from a line-out inside the Hinckley 22.
Joe Wilson missed a difficult kick.
From the kick-off, Hinckley were penalised allowing Tigers to set up an attacking line-out inside the 22.
A poor throw, however, was judged not straight.
Hinckley powered back into the Tigers half and Callum Dacey was bundled into touch inside the Tigers 22.
From a scrum on five metres the Hinckley eight destroyed the Tigers pack to win the put in.
Subsequent scrums saw Tigers penalised several times before the referee lost patience and awarded a penalty try to Hinckley to take the score to 32-0 and secure the bonus point.
Again Hinckley came back from the kick-off with a spectacular break-out by Salt.
A line-out to Hinckley on 15m resulted in a penalty to Hinckley on the Tigers five-metre line and a second yellow for the visitors when prop Ed Simmons was ordered off.
Hinckley opted to scrum and Salt scored his third from a push-over.
As the interval approached, Hinckley were again camped in the Tigers half but a wayward pass gifted Tigers wing Henri Packard a soft interception try. Joe Duffy converted to take the score to 37-7 at the break
Atrocious conditions at the start of the second period saw a number of handling errors by both sides.
Wilson did put over a penalty on 55 minutes when hooker Ross Thornton collected Tigers’ third yellow card.
With the rain relenting, however, Hinckley were able to re-assert their dominance. A crunching drive by Salt resulted in the Tigers full-back limping off and a penalty to Hinckley which was despatched to the corner.
A catch and drive saw flanker Ben Avent go over and Wilson converted – 49-7.
The final try came at the death and was arguably the best. Dacey collected the ball from a kick deep in the Hinckley half and set off on a dazzling run to the Tigers 22 before off-loading to Jamie Skerrit to run the ball in. Wilson duly converted to take the final score to 56-7.
This was an utterly dominant performance against a Tigers team that ended the unbeaten run of South Leicester just a week earlier.
Alex Salt was outstanding but it was difficult to pick fault with any of the Hinckley side - a highly satisfactory day at the office for Chuter’s men.