Two good wins for youngsters
HINCKLEY RFC U13s V Sutton Coldfield RFC U13s
Sutton Coldfield made the trip to Hinckley to play the Under 13s on a lovely crisp, yet soggy underfoot winter’s Sunday morning.
The game started with HRFC kicking off and immediately giving away possession. The visitors controlled the game from the off and pressured the hosts half for at least five minutes before Hinckley touched the ball again. Whilst Hinckley tried to soak up pressure they could not hold out and a SC try soon came 0-5.
Excellent hand to hand passing by the visitors saw Sutton Coldfield cross the line for their second try 0-10.
Hinckley substitutions were made, and impacted the game straight away as the new prop had ball in hand and bounced through a number of the SC to offload the ball to the new number 8 who touched down for the first Hinckley try 5-10.
The match suddenly seemed to move into Hinckley’s favour and with scrum after scrum in the middle of the saturated pitch, the pressure started to show and as better phases followed, again Hinckley crossed the line and touched the ball down 10-10
As the second half started it was Hinckley who stepped up and demonstrated some excellent middle field play. With the ball passed out though many pairs of hands it was finally shipped out to the wing who ran in to score in the top corner 15-10.
Out of nowhere a couple of missed tackles allowed a Sutton Coldfield player to run unchallenged 50m up the pitch to score between the posts 15-15
Hinckley soon moved the ball up to the 10m line where a resulting scrum gave a quick pass out to one of the centres who crossed the line and it was 20-15.
Hinckley’s fifth try came shortly after as a player broke free deep in the Sutton Coldfield 22 to run through and bring the score to 25-15.
Shortly after this try, the game was finished early by the ref after an accidental knock to the head on one of the players in a ruck – with safety taking priority this gave the appropriate time needed to see to the player before his journey for a check up at A&E. Final score 25-15.
A good performance by the Hinckley team with some great set piece play on display and a second victory for the age group this weekend following yesterday’s impressive and hard fought 15-20 win away at Chester in a curtain raiser match before the first team’s league clash with the Cheshire side later that afternoon.
Hinckley RFC U16s V Leicester Forest RFC U16s
Hinckley U16s scored six tries in a squelchy home festive friendly, comfortably beating their old nemesis Leicester Forest 38-5. It wasn’t really a Christmas cracker though, as the ball squirted around the muddy pitch like a well basted turkey. But a win’s a win and this fantastic team maintained their 23 match unbeaten run for the 19/20 season.
Hinckley were awarded a scrum 5m out, from which Allen sent a superbly weighted grubber kick through for Jacques to gobble up and score the opening try, gifting Hinckley with an early 5-0 lead.
Soon after, the ball was quickly recycled, allowing Burton to walk over for try number two. Allen added the extras with a magnificently struck conversion, extending the black and ambers’ lead to 12-0.
Hinckley counter-attacked from deep through strong carries by Goodwin, Underwood, Drakeford and Dewfield, driving Forest back into their 22. Hinckley maintained possession and the ball was passed out wide, Barnes sprouting up on the left wing to slide over in the corner, taking the score to 17-0.
Hinckley managed to cross the whitewash for the fourth time prior to the interval, L. Whittingham running a superb line to take a crash ball, before jingling his way through the flailing defence to score from the halfway line. Allen’s conversion sailed over to give Hinckley a comfortable 24-0 half-time lead.
After the break, the visitors’ persistence was rewarded as they broke through for their first and only try of the match, slightly reducing the deficit to 24-5.
Hinckley responded from the restart, attacking through bullish runs by Toon, McManus, A. Whittingham and Underwood.
The black and ambers maintained possession, allowing Moore to send a perfectly weighted kick through, which he gathered to score a superb try. Allen’s conversion split the uprights increasing the home side’s lead to 31-5.
Hinckley scored their sixth and final try following a rather scrappy 10 minutes in which both teams struggled to keep their claws on the dripping ball and maintain decent periods of possession.
Hinckley finally broke the temporary stalemate as Giles and L. Whittingham carved their way into Forest’s 22 with fantastic, sparkling breaks. Burton was in support to take the final pass and glide over the try line like Rudolf on ice.
Allen again added extra helpings with another sweetly struck conversion, extending Hinckley’s advantage to 38-5 which is how it finished.