Red card fails to derail HRFC as they take win
HINCKLEY returned to winning ways after a disappointing two weeks against Newport Salop in a tight but scrappy affair in difficult conditions.
The dismissal of Luke Hibberd midway through the first half threatened to derail Hornets but in the end the Hinckley men proved too powerful for the visitors. For much of the second period neither side was able to impose itself on the other until a brace of
Hinckley tries in the last ten minutes of the game took the home side clear. The score suggests a comfortable win for the Hornets but the reality was that Newport were still in touch almost to the end. It was hardly a great game but it was another bonus point victory for Hornets which keeps them in fourth position, two points clear of fifth place Luctonians. After picking up seventeen points out of a possible twenty from their previous four games, Newport will have been disappointed to leave Leicester Road with nothing to show for their efforts.
Director of Rugby Chris Campbell was content with the result. He said: “We have played Newport many times over the years and they have always proved a highly combative team. Today was no different, but I was delighted with how we stuck to the task and, even with only fourteen men, managed to show superior game awareness and fitness to come through and take the game away from them. We managed that last period really well and I think the result was well deserved.’
‘I was delighted that Mitch Lamb scored at the end on the occasion of his first game as captain. It’s a great honour to captain your club and he has been a stalwart for years now and deserved the accolade.”
It started well for Hinckley. Rory Vowles, who had an excellent game throughout on his return from injury, secured a Hinckley line- out 20m from the Port line with an excellent 50:22 kick. Hornets secured the line-out and were only stopped when Port flanker Finn Barnes pulled down the maul and was invited to take a ten minute rest by the referee. Hornets opted to scrum the penalty and secured a penalty try as the Port eight were pushed back towards their own line. Loosehead Titchard-Jones was sent to join Barnes in the bin reducing Port to thirteen men.
Hornets couldn’t immediately take advantage but just as the Port numbers were restored, Vowles collected a loose ball from a Hornets line-out on halfway and jinked his way to the line from 50m. It was a lovely try but there will be some harsh words said about the Port tackling.
Port responded quickly to drag themselves back into the game. Two penalties in quick succession saw Hinckley having to defend a line-out 5m from their line. They failed to hold a classic catch and drive and when George Castledine converted, Port were within five as the game entered the second quarter.
Matters then took a turn for the worse for Hornets. Luke Hibberd was carded for a ‘no-arms’ tackle on halfway but yellow became red when Hibberd expressed his displeasure at the referee’s decision and was dismissed for dissent. Adam Groocock was sacrificed to allow Matt Guilfoyle to fill the hole at the back and the pack was reduced to seven.
Newport immediately took advantage of the extra man as the penalty was kicked to within 5m of Hinckley’s line and a near identical catch and drive saw flanker Josh Kent driven over for the score to level the affair at 12-12. Castledine hit the post with the conversion attempt.
That could have spelled disaster for the Hornets but instead of folding, the pack began to assert control over the
Port eight. A Hinckley scrum on the Port 10m line resulted in a penalty which Joe Wilson kicked to within 15m. The catch and drive was held but the ball went left and three phases later a neat offload from Vowles saw Guilfoyle slip through the Port defence for the score. Wilson converted.
That’s how it stayed until the break, although there was time for Port tighthead Mathew Meek, a disciplinary nightmare all afternoon, to even up the numbers for the start of the second period with a piece of ill-discipline.
Much of the second period though was forgettable. With conditions deteriorating, both sides were guilty of multiple handling errors.
Hornets did survive one scare when replacement winger Nick Yeoward almost won the chase to the line from his own kick just inside his own half but knocked on over the line.
Other than that, there was little to write home about until Hornets found themselves with a penalty line-out 15m from the Port line and drove the ball over for a try. Harper came up with the ball and Wilson converted via the post to take it to 26-12.
With time running out, Newport tried to run the ball from a scrum in their own 22m in an attempt to salvage a bonus point. The ball went loose, Hornets pounced and Lamb sliced through for the try to put the game beyond the reach of the Salop men. Wilson converted and then added a further penalty from 40m to rub salt in Port’s wounds. It was to be the last act of the afternoon.