Hinckley run out easy winners over strong Sheffield side
‘Probably our best game of the season’ says boss
LAST week’s Hornets victory against Stourbridge was heralded by Director of Rugby Scott Hamilton as ‘probably our best game of the season’. Their 53 23 win over visitors Sheffield Tigers on Saturday was a step further and was without doubt the best performance from a Hornets side for some considerable time, writes Nick Robinson.
What was even more pleasing was that, whereas £1.30p
Stourbridge provided feeble opposition last week, this weeks victory was against a highly competitive Sheffield Tigers side with a reputation for having one of the most potent back divisions in the League.
Hamilton was delighted saying: “It can be a bit of a roller coaster ride as a rugby coach so you have to enjoy the good times, and that was definitely one of the good times. Everyone played their part today.”
The tone of the game was set in the early minutes. Hornets went through 20 plus phases at one point slowly working their way towards the Tigers’ line before releasing Callum Dacey out wide to go for the line. The final pass was judged forward but it gave perhaps a hint that it might all be coming together for the Hornets.
It was Tigers through who drew first blood when fly-half Mark Ireland slotted a penalty on 13 minutes.
The Hornets’ response was emphatic. As Tigers looked to mount an attack on half-way, the ball went loose and Joe Wilson was on hand to pick up and race for the line. Wilson
converted his own try and Hornets took a lead they were never to relinquish.
As the game entered the second quarter, Alex Salt collected a lovely Joe Glover chip down the left wing. The ball was recycled, Glover chipped ahead again and Callum Dacey was able to win the race for the ball after the Tigers defence had made a hash of dealing with the kick. Wilson again converted.
On the half hour, a booming kick from Wilson in his own 22m was kept in by Tigers on their 22m but Hornets were able to recover the ball and drove forward to 5m before releasing the ball to the backs. Mitch Lamb darted in by the posts for the first of what was to be a hat-trick for the winger.
When Wilson again converted, at 21-3, Hornets seemed to be coasting but a brace of tries by fullback Peter Swatkins, both converted by Ireland, completely changed the complexion of the game. The first was a solo effort as Swatkins collected the ball on halfway and carved through the Hornets defence to score. The second came from the re-start as
Tigers recovered the ball, fed it left and Swatkins was on hand to drive for the line and take his side into the break just four points adrift.
Immediately after the break, when Ireland slotted another penalty from 20m in front of the posts bringing Tigers within a point, there was some trepidation evident amongst the home support.
Gradually though, Hornets began to pull away. A scrum penalty on the Tigers 10m line was slotted by Wilson on 47 minutes. Six minutes later, Wilson again punished Tigers from short range after a series of pick and drives had drawn the penalty.
Irelend did pull three back towards the end of the third quarter, but it was Hinckley’s next score, on 64 minutes, that was the killer blow. A Tigers forward pass on their 22m line gave Hornets a scrum. The Hornets pack pushed their opponents back some 5m, the ball went left and Dacey went over in the corner for his second try.
Just a minute later, Lamb grabbed his second. A Hinckley line-out inside the Tigers 22m was fed right along the backs and then back before
Tom Wheatcroft opted to chip over the Tigers defence and Lamb won the footrace to the ball. Wilson put the icing on the cake with a tremendous touch line conversion.
At 39-23 with just 15 minutes, the game was won. The fight seemed to have gone out of the Tigers and Hinckley began to enjoy themselves.
Lamb grabbed his hat-trick when from another Hinckley line-out in the Tigers 22m a clever reverse pass from Ben Pointon opened up space and Lamb got on the end of an offload to go over. Wilson again converted.
The final score came from the last move of the game. Hornets won a penalty a few metres from the Tigers’ line and elected to scrum. Salt picked up at the back and drove over for Hinckley’s seventh try of the afternoon. Wilson converted to take his personal tally to 23 – a fine afternoon’s work.
The victory saw Hornets rise to seventh place on 39 points, the same as next week’s opponents Chester who sit one place above Hinckley. Victory next week could see Hornets in fourth place at the half-way point in the season