Wilson’s boot wins the war at Hinckley

Hinckley ................ 16pts Fylde ........................ 5pts

JOSEPH Wilson’s 11 points from the tee ensured Hinckley got back to winning ways after a narrow victory over Fylde at Leicester Road.

The hosts, who had won six out of six before losing away at Chester last week, were forced to defend in numbers in what was a battle of an encounter.

In fact, Hinckley started poorly but regrouped to lead 6-5 at the break before extending their advantage in a nip and tuck second half that saw Fylde reduced to 14 men.

“That was a very closely contested game and all credit to Fylde, both sides really give it everything for 80 minutes,” said Hinckley director of rugby George Chuter.

The former England international hooker added: “It was crucial to get a reaction after last weekend’s disappointment and we got that from the boys.

“We were missing our captain Alex Salt and two second rows so for our forwards to put in a performance of that quality was very pleasing and shows we have good strength in depth in our pack.

“We now move on to the Huddersfield game next week where we’ll have to be at our best once again to get anything out of the game.”

In what was the firstever meeting between the two clubs, Fylde struck first with tighthead prop Adam Joyner forcing the ball down from a rolling maul to give the visitors a 5-0 lead after just six minutes.

Both sides then missed opportunities to score from the tee, but two penalties from Hinckley’s Wilson ensured the hosts regained the lead, meaning they had a slender one-point advantage at half-time, 6-5.

The second half started off fiercely contested with James Moreton being binned for the hosts before Fylde winger Henry Hadfield received a straight red card for an alleged stamp.

And the home side benefited from the man advantage to score their first, and what proved to be their only, try of the contest.

Hooker Jack Dickinson risked being chucked out of the front row union as he burst in for a score from Fylde’s ten-metre line for a fine solo effort.

Wilson added the conversion before adding another penalty to complete the scoring in what was an intensely hard-fought game of rugby.

And the result was very frustrating in the eyes of Fylde’s director of rugby Warren Spragg.

“It was a closely contested game and all credit to Hinckley but we were unlucky in a couple of situations.

“I’m not sure about the red card and we had a disallowed try that could have been given on a different day.”

Spragg, who won a single cap for Italy, qualifying through his grandmother, back in 2006, added: “It’s a tough defeat to take but we can definitely take positives from this performance.

“It’s important we don’t shy away, and bounce back next week.”