Hornets bounce back against chastened Chester

Hornets ended a depressing series of results which had seen them sink from the top of the table to the bottom half with a stunning win at Hare Lane against a Chester side whose impressive season to date had seen them rise to near the top of the division. Four defeats in the last five outings, the last of which was a 49-14 drubbing by Clifton at Leicester Road, had seen the early season optimism amongst the Hinckley support turn to something akin to despair as the Hornets had plummeted down the table. This victory will go far in restoring some confidence in the camp and will hopefully trigger a turnaround in fortune for the Leicester Road men. Two home fixtures against mid table opposition followed by an away match at bottom of the table Dudley Kingswinford provide a real opportunity to turn things round.

The transformation from the team that surrendered so abjectly against Clifton could not have been more dramatic. A porous defence had somehow closed the breaches; a pack that had looked second rate against the Clifton eight suddenly became combative, aggressive and increasingly dominant as the game wore on. Chester were strangled as Hinckley’s line speed produced numerous turnovers and with ball in hand the Hinckley backs looked some distance ahead of their opponents. The return of Rory Vowles and Ben Pointon from injury certainly helped the cause, Callum Rowe added something extra at 10, and Reuben Logan had his best game by far in a Hinckley shirt, but perhaps of even more significance was Alex Salt’s restoration to the pack to deliver much needed leadership to a side that had looked lost in recent weeks. Whatever, it was good to watch.

That said, the penalty count was an area which will require attention. Whether it was gross Hinckley indiscipline or a referee who intent on reducing the game to a static game of restarts is debatable, but what is not debatable is that Hinckley cannot afford to play almost half the game with 14 men if they are going to build on this victory. Tenacious defence kept Hinckley in front throughout the game but it was no coincidence that the only time that Chester breeched the Hinckley line was when they were down to 14 men and ran out of defenders out wide.

It was perhaps understandable that DOR Chris Campbell was a delighted and relieved man at the end of eighty minutes. ‘Both teams tried to use their kicking game to control territory and I think the running strength of our back 3 was a real difference for us today, along with the hard work we put into our line chase which I felt stopped Chester building momentum.’

‘Our physicality was excellent, as good as it has been for a while, and that was all led by the players. They knew the standard they wanted to achieve, and they made sure they did so. After the issues we have had recently in defence, to only concede once was fantastic.’

‘It’s been a really difficult few weeks for everyone following a run of 4 defeats in 5 which is not where we should or expert to be, so winning at a place like Chester where we have always struggled in the past is a great reward for the players and I am very confident we can continue that next week.’

From the off it looked rather like it was Chester who had not quite got off the bus as Hornets raced into a fourteen-point lead. There were only six minutes on the clock when a brilliant 50-22 kick from Callum Rowe, on his return to first team action, set up a Hinckley line-out 15m from the Chester line. The catch and drive was set and the Hinckley pack drove over with apparent ease, Dale Bowyer touching down for his tenth try of the campaign. Rory Vowles converted.

After surviving a scare when Chester were called back for a forward pass with the line open, Hornets extended the lead after collecting a loose ball on halfway and slick handling gave Rowe the chance to touch down in the corner fractionally before he was bundled into touch. Vowles added the extras from wide out.

Chester then woke up and a lengthy series of penalties against the men in black and amber saw Hornets having to defend out of their skin for much of the last quarter. Nigel Mukerati was carded after 28 minutes in the mayhem and swapped places with Callum Rowe ten minutes later as he followed Mukerati to the bin. The line still held but, with the last play of the half, Hornets ran out of defenders in the right-hand corner and Chester wing Harrison Vare sneaked over for the score. James Preston converted.

The second half saw Matt Guilfoyle taking yet another enforced rest just a minute after Rowe had returned to the field, and Preston was able to close the gap to just four points with the resultant penalty.

The penalties kept coming but Chester were unable to take advantage and indeed rarely seemed to threaten in what little open play the referee permitted. Indeed, Vowles extended Hornets’ lead from a penalty of their own as the third quarter was drawing to a close, and with Hinckley back to full strength, they began to slowly strangle the life out of an increasingly frustrated Chester side.

Preston did miss a penalty from the 22m which would have closed the gap to a single score but it was Hornets who drew further ahead after 65 minutes when Vowles went over after Reuben Logan had picked up from a 5m scrum in front of the Chester posts. Vowles though could not convert his own try.

After that, matters got a little frenetic, not to mention hostile, particularly amongst the forwards as the referee failed to properly control the scrums.

Chester almost grabbed a late try which would have delivered a bonus point from a quick tap and go in the Hinckley 22m but Hornets held the man up to secure a goal-line drop-out. Callum Dacey despatched the ball into the crowd and the referee blew for time, sparking some well-deserved celebrations from the Hinckley men. It had been a tough old game!

Nick Robinson