Captain inspires 14-man Hornets to gutsy victory
HINCKLEY 22 ROCHFORD HUNDRED 17
ON the day that winter started to bite at Leicester Road, Hinckley notched up their third successive victory in their pursuit of the early season bolters in National League 2 South.
It was a close-run thing though and indeed the sending off of Adam Johnson with just three minutes of the first half left, followed by two quick tries before the referee blew for half time looked to have sabotaged Hornets good run of form.
At 7-17, it looked a long way back for the Hornets.
As the season has progressed, however, the men in black and gold have shown greater steel and resilience with their backs to the wall and so it proved again as a brace of tries from captain Alex Salt, and a drop goal from Joe Glover overhauled the visitors in the second half.
It helped that Hinckley had a howling gale at their backs in the after half-time, but it was still a noteworthy comeback against a lively Rochford side who proved that their lowly league position was not a true reflection of their capability.
Hornets remain in 12th position in the league and could overhaul Dings Crusaders, who sit one place and three points in front of Hinckley, when they visit the Bristol-based club next week. With confidence riding high, it is far from a forlorn hope.
DOR Scott Hamilton was again pleased with the performance: “I felt we started well. We spent a lot of time in our own half but that was to be expected playing into a strong wind. Our positional play was good, and we were fielding the ball comfortably.
“We scored a good try and could have gone in ahead. The sending off had a big impact and we let in two simple tries right at the end of the half. That said, we spoke at half-time and, with the wind behind us, we were still confident we could win provided we kept our discipline.
“There were one or two incidents in the second half I wasn’t happy with, and we do need to cut down on the errors in the opposition 22m which are costing us points, but we stuck at it and managed to pull through.
“We have a tough three games ahead of us running up to the Christmas break but if we continue to improve as we have done recently, then a mid-table position when we break is very much on.’
Many in the crowd were pleased not to be playing as Hinckley kicked off into a bitingly cold wind, and Hornets were soon three points down after Chris Dudman converted a relatively simple penalty for the visitors after high tackle, but the lead was shortlived.
Joe Wilson set up a line-out opportunity inside the Rochford 22m, the pack released the ball which was fed wide, and Josh Smith was able to take advantage of a massive overlap to step through for the score. Wilson converted.
All went well for much of the remainder of the half. The line-out did not function as well as hoped, with the Rochford 5 proving particularly troublesome, but the scrum was going well, the defence was comfortably holding off all Rochford’s attempts to score, and indeed it was Hornets who came closest to scoring again as the game progressed.
Then came the sending off.
Adam Johnson was spotted by the touch judge making contact with a Rochford head deep in the Hinckley 22m and the referee had little option but to show a red, although Johnson was adamant after the game that, if he did make contact, it was entirely accidental.
With Hinckley somewhat in shock, Rochford took advantage, striking twice in three minutes, first through Damien Bramley from the penalty scrum following the red card, and then when Taylor Randall broke through the middle of the line to score under the posts. Dudman converted both tries.
Hornets returned after the break with fresh resolve and were duly rewarded just three minutes in when the pack drove over for Salt to get the first of his brace after Wilson had set up a penalty line-out just 5m from the line.
The good work was almost undone, however, when the referee awarded a penalty from the kick-off as a result of some foolish back chat from Hinckley. In the event, they narrowly avoided conceding a score when they managed to hold up the Rochford pack over the line.
Hinckley though were now in control but had to wait until the end of the third quarter for the crucial score. Again, it came from a line-out 5m from the Rochford line. The initial drive was held but the ball was re-cycled through multiple phases until Salt drove over for his second. Wilson’s conversion put Hornets 19-17 up.
Most of the rest of the half was spent in the Rochford half and several chances for Hinckley to seal the win and claim the bonus point came and went without Hornets being able to force the score.
Joe Glover did claim a neatly executed drop goal with three minutes to go although that did give Rochford one last chance to force a win. They secured a penalty to set up a line-out inside the Hinckley 22m but then fluffed the line-out, Hinckley won a scrum and Wilson duly booted the ball dead for the referee to blow for time.
The next home game for Hornets is in two weeks against Barnstaple but anyone needing a rugby fix this week can see Hinckley Hunters taking on Leicestershire Police under lights on Wednesday, kick-off 7pm.