HOYT HAILS RAMS FANS AFTER HARD FOUGHT WIN
MIKE HOYT paid tribute to the Rams supporters after picking up a second man-of-the-match performance in three home matches.
The back row produced another classy and hard-working display, topped off with a try and memorable assist as his side beat Leicester Lions 33-12 to move level on points with National One tabletoppers Chinnor.
A sensational first-half saw the hosts 28-0 up as Fraser Honey converted tries from Axel KallingSmith, Charlie Robson, Max
Hayman and Ben Atkins, and while Malaleli Satala bagged a brace to give Lions some hope, Hoyt closed the door with his five-pointer midway through the final quarter.
Hoyt said: “As I’ve said before, the crowd is just so good – you get so hyped when you run out hearing them all shouting. I just love playing here.
“Credit to Leicester Lions, they’re a class outfit and we knew they’d come hard against us. They showed what they could do earlier in the season, so we knew we had to be clinical and we were.
“We’ve also been very focused on our defence and keeping teams to below 20 lately, and we wanted to make sure we did the same again.
“We need to show the rest of the league we’re not going to be easy to pass through, and we did that.”
The highlight of the match was Robson’s try, set-up sensationally by Hoyt’s no-look reverse pass which sent the wing haring in from some 40 metres out.
He continued: “We tried it in training as we felt they might be a little weak on the inside shoulder, and I said to Charlie ‘just keep a look because I’m going to give it to you’ – I trusted him to be there and finish it off, and he did both.”
While it was another memorable afternoon for the star man, he admitted a slightly bittersweet feeling at not getting the chance to face his brother Tim, who played for Lions earlier this year but was in action for Leicester Tigers in their Premiership Rugby Cup success against Ealing Trailfinders yesterday.
He said: “I was a bit gutted I didn’t get to play against him, but obviously happy for him. It’s a shame, but it was still a great game and a good win.”
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