Debutant snatches points for Hornets at the death
Worthing Raiders 26, Hinckley 28 National League 2 South
HORNETS claimed their second victory in succession on the road, this time at high-flying Worthing Raiders, writes Nick Robinson.
In a game that was still in doubt right up to the final whistle, Hinckley snatched victory in the dying minutes with a try from debutant winger Toby Baldwin who took advantage of some sloppy defensive work.
The home support may have felt their side had been robbed but the victory was just reward for a gritty performance by the Leicester Road men and perhaps made up for earlier defeats that had seemed rough justice.
The early exchanges gave little indication of the drama to come.
Joe Wilson landed a penalty after 11 minutes to give the visitors an early advantage, but Hornets soon found themselves behind.
A speculative Hinckley kick towards the Worthing 22m was comfortably fielded and run out of defence.
From the ensuing ruck the ball was fed right and centre Levi Davis – who was the stand-out back on either side – side-stepped the on-coming defence and ran to the line for the opening try. Matt Mclean converted.
Hornets lost Alex Branson to a nasty gash to his knee and Raiders went down to 14 when winger Jack Forrest was carded for a deliberate knock-on.
But Worthing still managed to extend their lead just shy of the half-hour when another sparkling effort from Davis, after Hornets had lost the ball in an attacking position, saw them score under the posts. Mclean again converted.
Wilson responded immediately with another penalty to keep Hornets in touch, but Raiders further extended their lead on 34 minutes from a penalty line-out 10m from the Hinckley line which the home pack drove over for Nathan Jibulu to touch down. Mclean’s conversion attempt hit the post.
At 19-6, as the first half drew to a close, it looked ominous for Hornets but with time almost up Mitch Lamb connected with a neat reverse pass on the Worthing 10m line to break the line, then connected with Adam Johnson out wide to give the hooker a score in the corner.
Wilson could not make the conversion but in the context of the game it was a crucial score.
While Worthing had the better of the first period, Hornets had the better of the second.
Positional changes saw Wilson drop to full-back, Joe Glover moving to fly-half and Ben Pointon coming on at scrum half, replacing Corey Venus.
Chris Arnold also took over from the injured Aaron Florestein to bring yet more power to a pack that arguably already had the edge on their opponents in the first half – and it changed the complexion of the game.
It was not long before the additional power bore fruit when the Hinckley pack drove over from a 5m scrum for Alex Salt to claim the score. Wilson’s conversion brought the score to 19-18.
Hornets began to exploit their forward dominance but could not turn that dominance into points.
Indeed, it was Raiders against the run of play who grabbed the next score and a bonus point.
A poor kick into the Worthing half was retrieved by Jack Forrest who then ran through several tacklers on his way to the line. It was a great effort by Forrest, but it was a very soft try to give away at such a crucial time in the game, and Mclean’s conversion put the home side eight points ahead with only nine minutes remaining.
Wilson pulled it back to within a score with a penalty after Worthing had been penalised following a bullocking run into the 22m by Alex Salt, but time was running out.
Wilson set up what may have proved a last opportunity with a penalty kicked to within 25m of the Worthing line.
The ball was spread wide from the lineout and a speculative kick out to the wing seemed to be well covered by the Worthing full-back, but Baldwin flipped it out of his hands and collected it on his way to a memorable score close to the posts.
Wilson held his nerve to add the extras and nose Hornets in front.
The visiting support then had to endure a nervy couple of minutes while Hornets played keep-ball in their own 22m but Wilson eventually booted the ball dead to claim a famous victory.
Hinckley’s director of rugby Scott Hamilton said: “We’ve now given ourselves a real opportunity to build something of a run and a mid-table position by Christmas is very possible.”
On Saturday, Hornets will be looking for a third successive victory when they host new boys Rochford Hundred who are currently 14th, two places below Hinckley.
The match kicks off at 3pm.