Double Figures for Hinckley U13’s.

Hinckley U13’s faced relatively unknown opposition on a still, grey Autumn morning. The referee (who looked like he should have been playing with the U15s on the opposite pitch) was making his debut but controlled the game very well. Hinckley kicked off and enjoyed a spell of good attacking rugby early on which was met with a good defensive display by Old Coventrians.
Hinckley were first to break the deadlock, when Drakeford darted through from just outside the Old Coventrians’ 22 metre line, to score the first try of the match.
Hinckley continued to dominate the early stages of the match and from a strong scrum Fray made a good break only to be bundled into touch 10 metres short of the line. Old Coventrians responded with some attacking rugby but Hinckley’s defence stood firm.
Hinckley turned over the ball from a line-out on the halfway line and passed the ball superbly through all the backs’ hands, eventually finding Hurley-Smith to score their second try in the corner.
Old Coventrians launched another attack from the re-start but could not break through the Hinckley defence, with L. Whittingham making a notable tackle on one of their big forwards. Hinckley eventually cleared their line with a long kick to halfway. Old Coventrians pressed again into their opponents’ half and a promising counter attack by Hinckley ended when Hurley-Smith made good ground but could not offload before being tackled.
Midway through the period, Old Coventrians eventually came away from a scrum with the ball and after retaining possession through a couple of phases the ball was popped to one of their big forwards who broke through the Hinckley defence to reduce the deficit to 5-10.
Hinckley launched another attack from the re-start, Salisbury kicking the ball through from mid-field, which Smith chased and showed excellent ball skills, kicking on again just over the try line to pounce and score Hinckley’s third try.
Old Coventrians re-started by kicking the ball straight into the hands of Goodwin, who made an impressive break followed by a superb offload to Barnes, who surged through the defence to score, increasing Hinckley’s lead to 20-5.
Hinckley’s fifth try soon followed, after good hands from the backs, the ball found Fray who was held up just short of the line. The resulting scrum was untidy but Drakeford somehow managed to come away with the ball and darted over from close range to further increase the visitors’ lead to 25-5. This was the last play of the first of three 20 minute periods and Hinckley made a number of changes before the start of the second.
Immediately from the re-start Hinckley made it 30-5 as Barnes caught the ball and offloaded to Burton who sprinted down the wing from just inside his own half. Old Coventrians responded well with a number of phases of possession but Hinckley’s defensive line speed was superb, stopping the home team gaining any decent territory, Moore and Piela making notable tackles out wide.
The home team continued to use their big forwards to carry the ball, eventually taking them deep into Hinckley’s half but Drakeford made a clearance kick back to the halfway line. Old Coventrians again fed the ball to one of their big forwards at pace from the lineout but he was stopped in his tracks by a solid tackle from Duggins.
Old Coventrians sent a long kick downfield which was gathered by Moore at full back who made a lovely darting run into space to score Hinckley’s seventh try, taking the score to 35-5.
The home team then knocked the ball on from the re-start but the referee played good advantage as Hurley-Smith stole the ball and offloaded to Hutton who was in support to score yet another Hinckley try. Hinckley were now totally dominant and nearly scored another when A. Whittingham made a clean break but was bundled into touch just short of the line.
Following an impressive driving maul by the Hinckley pack, the ball was passed out cleanly through their backs’ hands, finding A. Whittingham who was tackled just short again. This time, however, Drakeford was in support to pick up and score his third try, increasing Hinckley’s lead to 45-5.
Hinckley’s 10th try came just before the end of the second period when, following a scrum five metres from the Old Coventrians’ line, Drakeford again darted through to score.
Hinckley made some more changes for the third and final period of play which they started with a commanding 50-5 lead. Old Coventrians were determined to reduce the deficit, however, and following a long kick down field, they were awarded a scrum five metres from the Hinckley line. A series of rucks followed from which one of the opposition’s forwards took the ball, surging over to score their second try.
Old Coventrians pressured Hinckley again from the re-start and soon scored their third try as another of their big forwards broke through Hinckley’s defence. The final few phases of play were well contested by both teams, Toon and Buckler making notable tackles resulting in turnovers. In the final play Hinckley launched an attack after a spell of good ball retention. Superb offloads by L. Whittingham and Goodwin resulted in the ball finding Piela out wide, but he was bundled into touch to end a thoroughly entertaining game and great 50-15 win for Hinckley.