Five tries not enough for Hornets in narrow defeat
FIVE tries, 29 points, and a strong finish with two tries in the last seven minutes was still not enough for Hornets to register a win and once more they had to settle for losing bonus points.
Dings have come good in the latter half of the season and came into this game with six consecutive victories under their belts and certainly showed that their winning run was no fluke but once again this was a game that Hinckley could have won.
Once more they conceded points early in the game and found themselves playing catch up throughout the rest of the match. That they came close again just shows what the team are capable of if only they could reduce the error count and start a little better.
This was a much improved performance compared to the mediocrity on show against Westcliffe last week, and Hinckley scored some excellent tries, particular Ben Pointon’s solo effort at the death which saw him scythe through the Dings defence from inside his own half to score under the posts, but there was also periods when Hornets were simply not at the races and points conceded them cost them dearly in the end.
Director of Rugby Scott
Hamilton was again disappointed with the result but was able to cling on to some positives.
“It was a bit of a mixed bag. In the end we lost it in the first quarter when they looked much sharper and more dangerous while we were struggling to get over the gain line and our tackling was not aggressive enough.
“I also thought they were a little more streetwise than us at the breakdown. At 5-13 at the break, I thought we could still get back into it and we did score first but then twice we let them score straight after we had scored when we simply missed our one-on-one tackles. We certainly finished the stronger side, but we simply ran out of time.
“We did look dangerous at times, our scrum held up well, our line-out was better and we did get the two bonus points but those missed tackles cost us in the end.”
There was no doubt that Dings looked the better side in the first quarter. Two penalties converted by Dings flyhalf Ollie Millner in the first 15 minutes was not entirely reflective of their dominance in the early exchanges and it was no surprise when centre Matt Smith crossed under the posts to complete a splendid move which had begun from a scrum on halfway. Millner’s conversion took it to 13-0.
Hornets did battle back though, and the pack in particular began to assert some authority up front. Callum Dacey was held up over the line, but flanker Harry Bower did eventually rumble over from a driving maul in the corner to take the score to 13-5 at the break and there was certainly some optimism amongst the faithful that the game was far from over.
That optimism certainly did not look misplaced five minutes into the second period after Dacey had got on the end of a delightfully floated miss-pass from Rory Vowles which gave Dacey an easy run into the corner.
Hornets were right back in it but conceded another try almost immediately. Dings secured a line-out on the Hinckley 22m, and whereas the initial drive was held, patient work by the Dings forwards eventually saw winger Tom Hargan find a gap in the Hornets defence to score under the posts. Millner again converted and Hornets were again down by ten.
That became 17 on 55 minutes after scrum half Tom Knight had gone over from a near identical situation and Millner converted.
That seemed likely to be the end of it for Hinckley, but they hit back from the restart. Alex Salt recovered the ball, which was worked downfield, and Euan Kelly was on hand to crash through the Dings defence for what was a beautifully worked try.
The killing blow came from the Dings restart and was the result of an absolute howler by the referee. Hinckley did not deal well with the kick and the Dings chaser was able to recover the ball and poor tackling allowed prop George Kloska to go under the posts. Millner converted to take the score to 34-17 with 20 to go. The try should not have been allowed though as the Dings chaser who recovered the ball was perhaps 3m in front of the kicker when the kick was taken.
But Hornets were not done, and the last quarter saw them mount an onslaught on the
Dings line. Pointon took a quick tap penalty inside his own 22m and looked destined to go the length of the field but was stopped only by a last-ditch high tackle which on another day may have attracted a red card.
Unrelenting pressure eventually finished with Hinckley driving over a 5m scrum with Alex Salt dotting down over the line for the bonus point try. Joe Glover converted and with just seven minutes left Hornets went in search of the second bonus point. Pointon’s solo effort at the death duly delivered for Hornets to finish the game on a high but it could have been so much more.