Convincing away win for Hinckley Colts ahead of new season
DERBY & LONG EATON 0
HINCKLEY 56 HINCKLEY Colts continued their fine early season form with a convincing win away at the recently amalgamated Derby & Long Eaton RFC.
Hinckley kicked off in the late, warm autumn sunshine and showed their intent with some aggressive defending, Bradshaw, Toon and Buckler putting in notable early tackles.
Hinckley soon gained possession and scored their first of 10 tries, number eight Barnes breaking from the base of a scrum on Derby’s 22, with Beck in support, who ploughed over in the corner. Kennerson converted with a tremendous kick from the touchline to give the visitors an early 7-0 lead.
Hinckley pretty much dominated the game from this point onwards, Bosworth, Burton, A. Whittingham and L. Whittingham all making powerful runs as the game re-commenced. On the rare occasions when Derby had the ball any threat was quickly curtailed by Hinckley’s strong defence as Buckler, Underwood, Duggins, Toon, Barnes and Connolly put in crunching tackles.
Hinckley’s second try was similar to their first, this time Kennerson making the initial break from a scrum deep in Derby’s half with A. Whittingham taking the crash ball in midfield to score under the posts. Kennerson added the extras, increasing Hinckley’s lead to 14-0.
Hinckley nearly scored a third from the re-start, L. Whittingham displaying some sublime football skills, dribbling the ball down the wing, but he couldn’t quite gather the ball as the try line approached.
Try number three did shortly follow, a superb catch and drive by Hinckley’s pack from a line-out on Derby’s 22 and a bullocking run by Toon took the black and ambers to within inches of the try line. Duggins, who had obviously been hitting the gym, picked up the ball from the base of a ruck and drove over, assisted by Bradshaw, taking the score to 19-0.
The floodgates had opened and it wasn’t long before Hinckley scored their fourth, carries by Wilson and Drakeford, and some superb handling from Hinckley’s backs, set up Underwood, who stretched out one of his Mister Fantastic arms to touch down in the corner, the score now 24-0.
Hinckley Colts were rampant as half-time approached, impressive runs by Connolly, Goodwin, Barron, Kew, Wainde, Wilson and Toon took them back into Derby’s 22. The home side went down to 14 players following an injury, so captain Barnes admirably turned his shirt inside out and made-up Derby’s numbers. But even he couldn’t prevent Hinckley’s fifth try as L. Whittingham broke down the wing with Bradshaw and Toon in support, who returned the ball to send L. Whittingham over the line, increasing the black and ambers’ advantage to 29-0.
Hinckley managed to squeeze in try number six just before the break, Drakeford intercepting the ball brilliantly following a Derby line-out and barrelling over from just outside the 22, taking the half-time score to 34-0.
The referee consulted with the coaches during the interval and they agreed to play until the score reached 50. That didn’t take long, albeit Hinckley made a meal of it at times, and four further tries by Carey and Burton, who bagged a brace each, took the final score to 56-0 and the players enjoyed a relatively early bath.
This was another excellent performance by Hinckley’s Colts in preparation for next week’s first league game away at the miners in Coalville!