”A Tale of Two Halves..”

Hinckley U13s took on a much improved Oadby Wyggs side in quite literally a game of two halves. The home team kicked off into a cool breeze, taking Oadby Wyggs by surprise, as well as the spectators and the referee who was still trying to work out how to start his stopwatch.
Oadby Wyggs showed their intent from the second kick-off by putting pressure on the Hinckley defence in the early exchanges, passing out wide to one of their dangerous wingers, who was eventually bundled into touch by Moore. Oadby Wyggs turned over the ball at the resulting line-out after some solid tackling, passing out to their very fast right winger who rounded the Hinckley defence with excellent pace to score the first try of the game.
The visitors’ second try came soon after, following a number of good phases of play inside the Hinckley half; the ball was taken at pace by one of their big forwards who crashed over, giving Oadby Wyggs a 10-0 lead. Hinckley then eventually retained some good possession but couldn’t break through the Oadby Wyggs defence and, after another turnover in the tackle just inside their own half, they fed the ball out to their right winger again who scored his second try and Oadby Wyggs’ third.
Hinckley again retained possession from the re-start but Oadby Wyggs capitalised on some poor discipline from the home team handling in the ruck. The visitors fed the ball to another of their big forwards from the resulting penalty five metres out but a double tackle by Buckler and Duggins stopped him in his tracks. Hinckley then pressed into the opposition half following a spell of good possession and, from a strong scrum, the ball was sent wide to Piela who made an excellent break towards the 22 metre line. Oadby Wyggs’ solid tackling resulted in another turnover and, in a repeat of the previous try, the ball found its way out to their right winger who sprinted in for his hat trick to give the visitors a commanding 20-0 lead.
Oadby Wyggs continued to pressure Hinckley as the game approached half-time but the home team’s defence stood firm. Moore made another great tackle five metres from Hinckley’s line but Oadby Wyggs demonstrated excellent support play to pick up and score their fifth try, further increasing their lead to 25-0. This soon became 30-0 to the visitors as, from the re-start, they retained possession and passed the ball quickly to their speed merchant on the right wing who scored yet another try in the same corner.
Hinckley did not lose faith and, in the last play of the first half, Elcoat made a break down the middle of the pitch to take the home team deep into the opposition 22. Following another superb scrum, Hinckley showed they also had pace out wide and sent the ball through the backs’ hands to Piela who scored an excellent try to give Hinckley some hope going into the break at 5-30 down.
Hinckley made several substitutions at half-time and came out for the second half in a determined mood, with Fray making a notable strong run following the kick-off. Hinckley, whose scrum dominated all game, won the ball from an Oadby Wyggs put in and passed out to Moore who was tackled 10 metres short. The home team maintained the pressure with a great turnover by Hutton and Barnes, from which the ball was passed from Fray to Al-Salloum to score in the corner, reducing the deficit to 10-30.
The visitors responded by sending on “Angel” (at least that’s what their coach appeared to be shouting) but to no avail, as Burton made a strong run for Hinckley, passing to Al-Salloum who was tackled into touch on the Oadby Wyggs 22 metre line.
Hinckley were now the dominant team and, from yet another turnover in the scrum, pushed Oadby Wyggs back towards their own try line where Moore stole the ball to score Hinckley’s third try, making the score 15-30.
The referee had now, unfortunately, learned how to use his watch and time was running out for Hinckley to score another three tries to level the score, although from the re-start the ball found Burton deep inside his own half. He sold a couple of succinct dummies and left the flailing Oadby Wyggs defence standing, to score an excellent solo try and Hinckley’s fourth.
Time was almost up as Oadby Wyggs had a final flurry of possession, only to be turned over by some determined tackling and strong defensive runs by the Hinckley forwards. The ball was eventually knocked on to end a very entertaining game of two halves; the final score Hinckley 20-30 Oadby Wyggs.