Challenging weekend for younger Hinckley teams
HINCKLEY Under 13s welcomed Old Silhillians RUFC on a bright but breezy morning for a competitive game of Rugby at Leicester Road.
Silhillians put pressure on Hinckley from the off, and soon were dominating both play and territory. A powerful driving maul soon led to a neat offload the first try for the visitors 0:5. Hinckley reciprocated from the whistle with one of the forwards running a great crash ball before offloading to the outside centre to score the first Hinckley try and even the score 5:5.
Silhillians soon gained possession from the off and a number of missed tackles from the Hinckley squad soon gave them the chance for another driving maul and their second try 5:10. With the visitors looking comfortable on the attack and solid in defence Hinckley struggled to make inroads into the game and as another piece of set play gave Silhillians their third try from a nimble sidestep past defence Silhillians looked threatening 5:15.
Hinckley regrouped and with positional changes soon managed to make a powerful run after pushing Sils into touch to give the hosts their second try of the match 10:15 but the points were soon discounted as Silhillians again made quick tackles and dominated the breakdown and again sending a powerful run through the Hinckley pack unchallenged to score a further try 10:20.
As the last minutes of the first half were ticking by, Hinckley finally found the form we have seen in previous matches and soon a piece of play, straight from the training pitch was witnessed as the ball was won in the scrum and then neatly passed out down the line with a sensible piece of play to score Hinckley’s third try 15:20.
As the second half started the teams were only separated by one try and as the wind caused problems for the Hinckley starting kick Old Silhillians took charge of the game and soon ran through unchallenged to score 15:25. Hinckley came back with a great piece of play but with the ball carrier brought down within a meter of the try line but a powerful Hinckley run soon brought the score back to one try difference 20:25.
A spate of poor tackling and lack of focus and speed by the Hinckley team, soon saw Silhillians score again and widen the gap 20:30. At this point, Hinckley seemed to lose confidence, and, as they felt the game slipping away from them they put their heads down and allowed the visitors to breach their try line on a further 4 occasions widening the gap to 20:50. With only minutes left of this match, a scrum in the visitors territory was soon picked up by Hinckley and a burst of speed saw Hinckley score their 5th try of the match 25:50 much to the delight of the spectators. The joy was soon dampened as a Hinckley dropped ball gave the visitors another platform from which to run straight through the defence for the final try of the game bringing the final score Hinckley under 13s 25, Old Silhillians RUFC 55.
In perfect playing conditions Hinckley Under 14s travelled to Sutton Coldfield. The game had been threatened by player availability and a big thank you to the players and parents that put everything on hold to make a squad of 17 and let the game happen.
Within the first minute it was the clear the players were up for it, turning over a player in mid field and putting the ball through the hands allowing the winger to open up and get the score board moving. The conversion was missed so 5-0 Hinckley, sadly scoring the try our winger injured his shoulder and had to be withdrawn from play so with only 1 forward in replacement the team was shuffled again. From the restart Sutton were determined to get back into the game and ferocious and frantic play from both sides in the middle of the field eventually saw Sutton get the ball out wide, through the hands to get their winger in at the corner. With the conversion missed the score was level at 5-5 with 10 minutes played.
This time from the kick off Hinckley took the game to the opposition with multiple phases and good possession. The ball was relentlessly moved up the field until the outside centre was afforded the room created by the forwards to break through and get over the line, another missed conversion saw Hinckley leading 5-10 with 13 minutes gone.
Sutton put a few phases together and created a space for their centre to get through and score, with the conversion missed scores were tied 10-10. The game continued to be a physical battle but Sutton twice managed to break the line and run in 2 converted tries, which left us down at half time 24-10.
Five minutes into the second half, Sutton scored again making it 29-10.
Hinckley showed great spirit and defended as a team, each player looking after the other. Sutton moved forward from their 22 halting Hinckley’s efforts and at 16 minutes in they scored in the centre, converted that try leaving the scoreboard at 36-10.
Hinckley continued to contest every ball but with seconds to go Sutton got a final break and ran in a try. Final score 43-10 to Sutton Coldfield.
The score does not reflect the teamspirit and effort put in by the players, who never gave up. All of them should have their heads held high and know that they did themselves, the team and the club proud.
Hinckley RFC U15s travelled to Silhillians on Sunday.
The game started and Hinckley took the play to Silhillians. Keeping the pressure on, Hinckley saw the first try with a pick up from the back of the scrum by Ray with a little off load to Kennerson, who scored the try, which he also converted.
Silhillians didn’t like the way the game had started and from the restart took control on the pitch and ran in their first try, which they converted. The first half saw both sides equally match and the half time score was 14 all.
The second half saw Silhillians came out fighting and saw Silhillians score the next try to which they converted. Hinckley decided that they could match their skills and pile on the pressure and the forward worked well together to push Plowman over the line for a try, and Kennerson converted.
The play then came a little more equal again with the ball going from one end to the other but not crossing the line, until Hinckley felt the pressure and kicked the ball for it to be charged down and Silhillians crossed the line for another try and conversion.
The restart saw Hinckley apply more pressure again but once more to no avail. Silhillians kept the pressure on when they had the ball and managed to push through Hinckley’s defensive to score the final try of the game.
The final score was Silhillians 26 Hinckley 14. It was an excellent game to watch, to which Hinckley will be able to learn from and improve.