Hinckley fall in the mud

ON A pitch that bore more of a resemblance to Skegness beach than a rugby field, Hinckley were undone by a powerful Sheffield side in a bruising encounter in the mud.

Despite the best efforts of the Sheffield ground staff, heavy rain had reduced the pitch to a quagmire and it is questionable whether the match should have gone ahead at all. Certainly, the conditions were much better suited to the forward dominated Sheffield side than to a Hornets team known for their back play.

Kick-off was delayed slightly to allow for a two minute silence in memory of Sheffield’s popular former Director of Rugby who died recently after a long battle with cancer and the emotion evident amongst the ‘Sheff’ players suggested that they intended to deliver a performance of which he would have been proud.

In recording only the sixth win of their campaign, they did deliver and moved off the bottom of the table to give them some hope of retaining their National 2 status.

That said, Hinckley utterly dominated the first quarter of the match, rarely leaving the Sheffield half.

But for all the pressure, Hornets were unable to capitalise.

Sheffield defended tenaciously and Hornets in all honesty did not ever look like crossing the whitewash.

When Sheffield did break the stranglehold it was dramatic.

On 25 minutes, the normally powerful Hornets scrum was shunted back 15m to their own 22 and was forced to concede a penalty.

Sheffield kicked for the corner and proceeded to lay siege to the Hinckley line.

Hornets were penalised under their posts and Sheffield elected to take the scrum.

Prop Dave Peck was yellow carded from the scrum and, with Hinckley down to 14, Sheffield again elected for the scrum penalty.

There was a sense of inevitability when Sheffield No.8 Burns went over under the posts and fly- half Depledge converted to give Sheffield a 7-0 lead.

Hinckley did reply before half-time with a long range Wilson penalty but at the break there was a sense that Hornets would struggle to claw back even a slender 7-3 lead.

Almost from the restart, poor midfield defence allowed Sheffield to break through and touch down under the points.

Depledge converted and Hornets were 14-3 down and seemingly with a mountain to climb.

The introduction of Tom Wheatcroft did, however, transform the Hinckley back line and within minutes a clever kick through into the in-goal area allowed Hinckley to win the race for the ball to score.

The conversion was missed but Hinckley were back within a converted try.

That try however.

Hornets continued to press with the backs looking dangerous when in possession, but a combination of solid Sheffield defence, continuing problems with the Hinckley never came lineout (Hornets hardly won a lineout ball all afternoon), and the horrendous surface allowed Sheffield to hold out and deservedly take the points.

The match ended with a final score of Sheffield 14, Hinckley 8

This was not a game to remember.

Highlights were few and the sense of frustration throughout the game amongst both Hornets players and supporters was palpable.

The result leaves Hornets still clinging on to third place in the table, but a third defeat in their last five matches effectively means that they are now outsiders in the promotion chase.

Both Stourbridge and Tynedale have yet to visit Leicester Road, which does give a glimmer of hope.

But Hornets urgently need to address problems in the line-out and develop a more effective wet weather game.

Saturday sees promotion rivals Tynedale visit Leicester Road. Kick-off is 3.00. A little dry weather this week would be most welcome.