Colts secure emphatic win to start campaign
COALVILLE RFC COLTS 3 HINCKLEY RFC COLTS 65
HINCKLEY Colts kicked off their league campaign with an emphatic 11 try annihilation of Coalville on a soggy and windy autumnal Saturday afternoon.
Hinckley kicked off into the horizontal drizzle and it wasn’t long before they scored their first of 11 tries, turning the ball over following a crushing Buckler tackle. Barnes, Drakeford and A. Whittingham quarried forward forcing a penalty deep in Coalville’s 22.
Hinckley’s pack set up a powerful driving maul from the resulting line-out, from which Drakeford burrowed over in the corner. Bosworth’s superbly struck conversion from the touchline sailed over to give the black and ambers a very early 7-0 lead.
Coalville attempted an offensive from the re-start but thumping tackles by Beck, Wainde and Goodwin curtailed any real threat. Hinckley’s well-drilled pack won a scrum against the head and breaks from Barnes, Drakeford, Wilson and Kew set up try number two, as the ball found Fountaine on the right wing, who blasted over in the corner to increase the visitors’ advantage to 12-0.
Hinckley’s third try came shortly after the game re-commenced, Drakeford tunnelling over in the corner from another line-out catch-and-drive, taking the score to 17-0 after just 10 minutes.
Drakeford then made it a hattrick, taking the pass from Goodwin just inside his own 22 before dummying, out-pacing and handing off half the Coalville team to touchdown in the corner. Bosworth’s
brilliantly struck conversion fell just short but Hinckley now had a convincing 22-0 lead.
Coalville re-started but again found themselves on the back-foot as L. Whittingham, Barnes, Wilson, Beck and Burton made good yards with strong runs. Barnes followed up in support brilliantly to take the final pass and plough under the posts. Bosworth added the extras, extending Hinckley’s advantage to 29-0.
Coalville slightly reduced the deficit to 29-3 after kicking a penalty on Hinckley’s 22, giving them a short-lived lift as they launched an attack from the re-start, but bruising tackles by A. Whittingham, Lane, Beck, Kew and Duggins, and a sublime steal and break by Burton with Barron in support resulted in Hinckley’s sixth try, taking the score to 34-3 as the half-time whistle blasted.
Hinckley made a number of changes for the second period and it wasn’t long before they were on the scoreboard again. The ball was trucked forward through strong carries by Toon and Buckler, then passed superbly though the backs’ hands with Wilson in support who took the final pass to quarry over under the sticks. Bosworth converted to increase Hinckley’s lead to 41-3.
The black and ambers were now dominant and Coalville were struggling to get out of their own half. As the driving rain continued, the match became a little scrappy as both teams struggled to keep hold of the increasingly slippy ball. Hinckley regained composure and Drakeford went over for his fourth try, tunnelling through from another line-out catch and driving maul, the score now 46-3.
Hinckley surpassed the half-century shortly after the game re-commenced, powerful carries by Bradshaw, Duggins and Bosworth taking them deep into Coalville territory.
Coalville turned over the ball but an awesome tackle by Bradshaw enabled Hinckley to regain possession and Connolly pounced on a kick through to extend the visitors’ lead to 53-3 following another successful Bosworth conversion.
Coalville hadn’t given up and launched their first second-half foray into Hinckley territory following the re-start, but it was relatively short-lived.
The home side were awarded a penalty on Hinckley’s 22 and opted for the kick to try and double their score, but the kick fell short and Hinckley counter-attacked through breaks by Fountaine, A. Whittingham, Carey, Baron, L. Whittingham and Toon. Hinckley maintained the onslaught and were held up on the try-line forcing an in-goal drop kick, which Bosworth caught superbly before offloading to L. Whittingham, whose pop pass found Drakeford hitting the line like a runaway rail cart to splashdown for his fifth and Hinckley’s 10th try, taking the score to 60-3 as Bosworth added the extras.
As the rather cold and damp away supporters edged their way toward the dry, warm clubhouse, birthday boy Barnes put the icing on the cake, mining over in the corner to make the final score 65-3.
This was a superb and extremely well disciplined performance from Hinckley, in atrocious conditions, against a powerless Coalville team, setting them up nicely for next Friday’s first round of the national Colts cup under the floodlights against Syston.