This was a bizarre if highly entertaining game with the home side eventually coming out on top by the narrowest of margins. The two teams shared fourteen tries in all, seven apiece, and victory for the Seasiders was down to one more successful conversion and a penalty kick from full-back, Charlie Carter.

The score would suggest a nip and tuck game with the two sides exchanging blow for blow throughout. It was not! The scoring pattern was what made it truly bizarre. Hinckley took the lead in the first minute through Sam Everettt but then were subjected to a battering with Hornets putting three tries and a penalty past the Leicester Roaders in a 25 minute spell to establish a commanding 22-5 lead. The last ten minutes for the first half though showed a complete reversal in fortunes as Hinckley scored three tries of their own to tie the scores at the break and set up what was expected to be a tight second half.

As it happened, the resumption saw Hinckley blitzed by four further tries in the first twenty minutes during which Hinckley seemed incapable of getting out of their own half as. The Seasiders opened up a massive 46-22 lead apparently condemning Hinckley to a heavy defeat. The final fifteen minutes though saw yet another switch in fortunes as Hinckley utterly dominated proceedings, running in three more tries of their own, and came close in the final minute to scoring a try which could have completed one of the great escape stories of the season. As it happened Hornets just about hung on, but it could so easily have been a different story.
Hinckley picked up two bonus points for their efforts which, with Clifton, Redruth and Dings all losing, actually meant that they made ground on all their main rivals, remaining in fourth place.

Hinckley’s DOR Chris Campbell was realistic about their afternoon. ‘We cannot deny that defensively it was a poor performance - we missed far too many tackles that shouldn't have been missed, and our shape in the wide channels was nowhere near where it should have been. But the players have recognised that and we will be working extremely hard to get it back on track next week for Clifton. Hornets executed their opportunities very well and they deserved to score the tries they did, but we shouldn't have made it as comfortable for them as we did.’

‘In attack in the first half, when we had the ball, we showed how we are continuing to develop with three tries from long range, but we didn’t give ourselves anywhere near enough opportunity to use the ball. In the first 20 minutes of the second half, in particular, I don’t think we had it for any consecutive period of time, and we have to accept it was the result of our own errors.’

‘However, it is important you don’t get too high when you win, and equally don’t get too down when you lose. We are on an upward path as a team when you look at it across the whole season. This is a bump in the road, no doubt, but we have the resilience to overcome it and make sure we put in a very strong performance at home against Clifton next week. Selection will be difficult with 5 players coming back into contention for a 1st team shirt and we look forward to working out who will be taking the field on Saturday.’

Everett set the tone for the game in the first minute with an interception on halfway which opened the way for him to run to the line for the score. But an overthrown Hinckley line-out on their own 22m a couple of minutes later was seized by the seasiders, worked left and winger Oscar James was able to go over in the corner to level the score.

The Seasiders' centre Connor Vickery was next on the scoresheet when he caught Mitch Lamb on the Hinckley 10m line, stripped him of the ball and was able to run to the line. Carter converted to make it 12-5.

From the restart, a blatant knock-on by the Seasiders was missed by the referee, and the upshot was a penalty in front of the posts which Carter easily converted.

The resumption did not see things get any better for Hinckley. A line-out on the 22m line gave Hornets the opportunity to go for the line and Vickery was on hand to grab his second, again converted by Carter to extend the lead to 22-5.

Then it was Hinckley’s turn. A break from Lamb was shipped to Shae Nixon who delivered a delightful off-load to Luke Hibberd to complete the score. Everett then grabbed his second, breaking from 40m to run to the line, and Mitch Lamb went over by the posts after Hinckley had taken a penalty scrum a few meters from the Hornets line for a high tackle. Powell added the extras to tie the scores at the break.

With the wind at their backs for the second period and a pack which seemed to be in the ascendancy, it seemed likely that Hinckley would take command of the game. Instead, it was Hornets who seized control in dramatic fashion. With Hinckley unable to get any meaningful possession, it was almost a procession for the next twenty minutes.

A Hornet’s line-out on the Hinckley 22m was worked right, then left and Pierre Tucker finished off the score out wide. Three minutes later centre Adam Francis was able to run in a try after a poor box-kick had given the Hornets backs the chance to run the ball back from 35m. Carter made it 34-22.

Tucker grabbed his second five minutes later after the Seasiders pack had driven line-out ball to within 5m, then released the ball left to the wing. Four minutes later, Ben Pegler, who had just replaced Lamb, was stripped of the ball on halfway, allowing Hornets to work the ball to the line and, notwithstanding another blatant forward pass, No. 8 Mathew Parker was able to go over for the score which Carter converted. At 46-22 with less than twenty minutes to go, there seemed no way back for Hinckley.

That said, they came very, very close as the pack took control with three near identical scores from penalty line-outs deep in the Seasiders' 22m. Ewan Bartlett grabbed two in quick succession, then Craig Wright got the third with Powell converting all three. That left Hinckley with two minutes to get a winning score. It proved too much – just. There were many in the home crowd, however, for whom those last two minutes seemed the longest of their lives.
Nick Robinson