Hinckley U14s battle to victory in face of solid defensive display

FOLLOWING a three week layoff due to the beast from the east, Hinckley kicked off on a pleasantly mild spring morning writes Andy Duggins.

The opening exchanges were predictably tense, both sides making handling errors and giving away penalties for poor discipline.

The two teams’ defences were equally solid, Hutton, Barnes and Fountaine putting in notable tackles early on for the black and ambers.

Hinckley soon started to get the better of their opposition, strong runs from Underwood and Golding taking them into Forest’s 22.

Hinckley maintained possession and the ball was popped to Jacques in midfield who crashed through the Forest defence to score Hinckley’s opening try under the posts.

Drakeford converted to give Hinckley a 7-0 lead.

Forest retaliated from the restart, switching to a “Nuneaton-esque” kicking game to try and disrupt Hinckley’s momentum, but Golding was on hand to gather the ball superbly on his own 22m line.

Hinckley eventually broke through to score their second try, Jacques taking another crash ball to blast through the opposition from 10 metres out and increase Hinckley’s lead to 12-0 as the conversion bounced back off the upright.

Hinckley started the second half in a similar manner.

Burton took Hinckley close with another bullocking run from a penalty, following which the ball was shipped out wide through Allen and Moore who found Golding in support, but he was tackled into touch metres short of the try line.

Forest cleared their lines and were awarded a penalty on the halfway line, taking the interesting decision to go for the three points.

The kick fell some way short, but Hinckley were penalised for not retreating the full 10m and from the resulting penalty Forest kicked through and pounced on the loose ball over the try-line to score, reducing the deficit to a nervous 12-7 as the conversion went over.

Hinckley counter-attacked following another Forest kick and chase, Jacques with a typically bullish run through the midfield with Drakeford in support who was tackled 5m short of Forest’s line.

Burton was on hand to pick up from the ensuing ruck and smash his way over for Hinckley’s third try. The superbly struck conversion from the touchline fell just short, but Hinckley’s lead had increased to 17-7 much to the relief of the home supporters.

The ball eventually went into touch to end a very competitive, physical and slightly nervy game of rugby, Hinckley winning by 17-7 to maintain their unbeaten run and march into the County Cup final and to give the Hinckley mums a special treat on Mother’s day.