A dominant second half from Hinckley gave them a second well deserved win on the road, and showed some strong signs of the progress the squad are looking to make this season.

They very nearly had the lead within 10 second with Sam Everett dragged won just 5 metres short having caught Joe Wilson’s kick off, but having earnt a penalty from a resulting breakdown, captain Alex Salt showed positive intent and called a scrum, which two phases later lead to a pick and go score from Corbin Thunder, this week playing in the back row.

However for the majority of the first half Hinckley were unable to build any momentum, mainly due to a combination of a high penalty count, which is a major area of development, and the tactical kicking game from the hosts, who looked to turn Hinckley at any opportunity and create opportunities for them to attack through their maul. The pressure they built lead to a penalty from Gordon - Oke and then after 20 mins a pick and go score from Charlie Banefield came after 2 maul collapses from 5 metres out

Barnstaple continued to dominate the field position but a key moment on half
Time came when some great link up work from Rory Vowles and Mitch Lamb gave Shae Nixon the opportunity to score off first phase, giving the visitors a big confidence boost going in 14-10 up.

This try gave Hinckley some real momentum coming out for the second half and two further quick tries put the Hornets into a prime position to win the game. The first came from Mitch Lamb after some excellent game management allowed Hinckley to work their way down field from the kick off, and the second came from Adam Johnson from the shortest of ranges to take the score to 26 – 10.

Barnstaple fought to stay in with a try from Jake Murphy which gave them hope, but with 15 minutes to go the game was over. Firstly Alex Salt rolled back the years with a rampaging run from the base of the scrum, and then Joe Wilson (who went past 1000 Points for the club on the day) finished a flowing team move in the left hand corner.

The atmosphere in the game then became very tetchy – Barnstaple had lost a player to the bin for a team infringement and then Oscar Harper and Corbin Thunder left the field in quick succession leaving Hinckley down to 13. Then a scuffle in the midfield lead to Harry Bower also leaving the field along with a Barnstaple player who received a red card, which mean the last few minutes were played as 12 v 14.

However you wouldn’t have known, with a break out down the right hand side from Povoas and Everett, lead to Hinckley amazingly with just 12 having a significant overlap on the right hand side and Nixon’s kick through was juggled multiple times by Dale Bower who scored possibly the try of the day on the final whistle.

The first bonus point win on the road since January will give the squad huge confidence, and they look forward to hosting Redruth next week

Barnstaple: Swales, Clark, Murphy, D Johnson, Lee; Gordon - Oke, Stone; Robson, Bayet, Dromantas, Lloyd, Banfield, Smale, Kelly, Darley. Reps: May, Mitchell, Patrick, Hookway, C Johnson

Hinckley: Hibberd, Wilson, Nixon, Lamb, Everett; Vowles, Pointon; Harper, Johnson, Peck, Weaver, Groocock, H Povoas, Thunder, Salt (c). Reps: Bowyer, Greening, Bower, Leonard, Bevan.

Referee: L Davies