This as a real shellacking for the Leicester Road men, a seven try to one thrashing at the hands of a side who must surely now be seen as the division’s Champions elect. Hornets have improved considerably since September when they lost 15-26 to the Lions in the reverse fixture but, on the evidence of this performance, so have Lions. They are simply the best side by some margin that Hinckley have encountered this season.
Lions blew the Hornets away, showing their superiority in every aspect of the game. It wasn’t that Hinckley played badly - they didn’t, sticking to their task to the last in a grim show of defiance against the odds; it was simply that Lions were better and thoroughly deserved their win.
It could be argued that Hornets suffered from key absentees, particularly in the back row, due to injury, suspension, or, in the case of Joe Gaffan, recall from loan, and there was a distinct feeling amongst the travelling support that their side was harshly treated by the referee, but even the most hard-core Hinckley supporter could not really argue that Hornets were outclassed on the day.
DOR Chris Campbell had encouragement for his men even in defeat and was optimistic that they can put the loss behind them and continue to build on what generally has been a very good season for Hornets. ‘Obviously we are very disappointed with the result, but it wasn’t due to a lack of effort or desire from the squad, and I was really impressed with the fact we never gave in, looking to attack out of our 22 even in the closing minutes when it would have been easier to kick the ball away.’
‘It was a tough lesson for a very young set of back row players in particular but they will have learned a lot today, especially Joe Barnes who battled all day at number 8, and Charlie Hurst who came off the bench for his first game having been playing 3rd team rugby less than a year ago.’

‘Today’s result changes absolutely nothing and doesn’t undo any of the excellent work the team has done this season - we have a big game at home to Old Reds next week which we will now prepare for and look to put on a good show for the Leicester Road crowd.
We have 10 league games to go and I have no doubt of our ability to win all of them - we have a great chance of our highest ever finish in the National Leagues and that is very exciting.’

In retrospect, the writing was on the wall even in the opening minutes of the game when the Lions pack seemed to have the edge in the scrum and the referee took exception, not for the first time in the game, to the Hornets front-row. That was the pre-cursor to a period of sustained Lions pressure which Hornets did well to repel.

But they could do little when, on fourteen minutes, Lions stole the ball at a Hinckley lineout and, in a passage of lovely flowing rugby, eventually worked the ball wide for the wing to elude the Hinckley cover and slip the ball inside to scrum-half James Stubbs to go over for the score. Ben Young converted.

Hinckley’s response though was immediate. Ben Pointon collected the ball inside the Hinckley half and set off on a typical dazzling run deep into the Lions 22m and found Frankie Sleightholme in support to touch down for the score. When Joe Wilson converted to bring the scores level there was a feeling that Hinckley had ridden the storm and might now begin to assert themselves. In the end, it proved to be the high point of the match for the Hinckley support.

Hornets found themselves starved of possession, conceding a succession of penalties in what proved a fruitless crusade for quality ball.

As time moved into the second quarter Lions won two penalties in quick succession to set up a line-out 5m from the Hinckley line. The line-out was taken and the Lions pack rolled over for the try, Flanker Simon Johnson claiming the score which Young converted.

A few minute later, Will Ward grabbed Lions’ third again from a line-out, and then after Isaac Norton was carded for what seemed a very innocuous offence, Tom Williams grabbed the bonus point try for the home side when another maul was driven over from short distance. Young converted both tries.

It didn’t seem like things could get much worse for Hornets but, just they were looking forward to returning to full strength, Joe Barnes was shown yellow for interfering with the man in the air, and Hinckley went in at the break 28-7 down with only fourteen on the pitch.

On the return though, Hornets did show some fight and Lions couldn’t find a way through until play moved into the final quarter but when Lions did score, it was a disappointing way to concede. After holding off a scrum 5m from their line, Hornets secured a goal-line drop out but the ball was kicked straight out to give Lions a 5m scrum in front of the posts. Cairns picked up at the back of the scrum and forced his way over for the try which Young again converted.

From the kick-off, Norton this time took the man in the air and received a second yellow and Hinckley were left to face virtually all the final quarter with only fourteen men.

They gave it their best shot, and as the game became looser, their backs began to show a little of what they are capable of. But the extra man proved too much for the Hornets and Lions were able to run in a brace of tries for winger Zach Bean, the second of which proved to be the last play of the game. Young missed the conversion which left the final score 47-7 to the home side.

Hinckley were well beaten but there was honour in defeat. Hornets will come again and a top four finish is still a very real possibility.

Nick Robinson