Understrength Hornets edged out by Canterbury
IT WAS a welcome change for the Hornets to only have to travel a few miles to an away fixture this season and the spring sunshine seemed to bring something of a celebratory atmosphere to proceedings. In the event, however, Hornets lost local bragging rights to the Lions in what proved a tightly fought contest between two evenly matched sides.
It was arguably the right result on the day, but it could so easily have gone the other way.
As so often happens in such games, the match hinged on two critical moments which could have turned the game. The first came early in the first half when, with Hornets on top, Callum Dacey, returning to action after having had to sit out most of the season with a knee injury, sprinted for the corner on the left and seemed to have grabbed a crucial try that would have given Hornets the lead.
After initially giving the thumbs up for the score to the referee, the touch judge then appeared to change his mind and Dacey was adjudged to have been held up over the line. Commenting after the game Dacey said: “One hundred per cent I grounded the ball, but as it bounced back up two defenders got a hand under it and that’s what the linesman told the ref. It’s disappointing but these things can happen in rugby.”
The second key moment was ten minutes into the second half. A Hornets scrum just short of the Hinckley 10m line looked to be an opportunity for Hornets to launch an attack but, with the ball at Alex Salt’s feet, a second surge by the Lions’ front row caught their opposite numbers off guard and Hornets pushed off the ball.
Lions scrum half James Stubbs collected and, with the Hornets defence at sixes and sevens, ran to the line unopposed to touch down under the posts. The conversion took the score to 19-3 in favour of Lions and ultimately proved too much of an ask for Hornets to overhaul.
Direcotr of Rugby Scott Hamilton was philosophical about the defeat after the game. “I felt we started well and to go in at half-time with were just a six points deficit against a very strong wind meant we were in a good place.
“We were unlucky with the Dacey ‘try’ but we looked after the ball, managed to put pressure on them at the breakdown, and were looking good for the win. In the second half we wanted to put the screws on them in the scrum, but it didn’t work, particularly after they changed their front row.
“The turning point was when we conceded after being blown off our own ball at the scrum. They had their tails up after that and we were chasing the game. It didn’t help that we had a few guys coming back from injury and we seemed to run out of steam a little towards the end. We still scored two good tries, but overall Lions deserved the win.
“They were the better side on the day. We’re really looking forward to the return in a few weeks’ time though when the returning guys will have a few games behind them. It’ll be a different game then.”