Classy Hornets back to their best

After two disappointing performances, Hornets returned to their best at Leicester Road on Saturday, demolishing a Camborne side who must still have been harbouring lingering hopes of promotion coming into the game. Those hopes will have been severely dented by a Hinckley side who shook off any residual self-doubt to record one of their best victories of the season. The bonus point win saw them rise to third in the table, albeit still 15 points behind pacesetters Luctonians.

There were still areas for concern – defence coach Ben Avent will not have been happy that two of Camborne’s three tries came from short-range line-outs, and the line-out generally did not function as well as one might have hoped – but Hornets were sharp, incisive and clinical with ball in hand. Town did not go down without a fight but could not match Hinckley’s open field play.

In contrast to last week, DOR Chris Campbell was delighted with both the win and the manner in which it was achieved. ‘I was really pleased with our performance today, as we managed to show real positivity in our play despite not being able to move the ball around the field as much as we have been doing recently. Instead, we attacked the line hard, executed our basics well in attack and were rewarded for that.'

‘Patience was key - we didn’t look to force opportunities, and when you take into account that, in addition to the five tries, the referee ruled we were held up over the line twice (the players are certain they grounded the ball but of course if the referee didn’t see it, he couldn’t award the try). I think though we had a good return for our work.’

‘There were a couple of periods of the game where we put a bit of pressure on ourselves due to poor skill execution but the decision making was correct, which is pleasing to see, and we know that we can work hard on those skill areas so that when tested again we perform better.’

‘It was a really important game for us after the disappointment at Dings and, a ropey performance at home to Newport last week. The Clifton game next week is critical.’

Hinckley drew first blood after just four minutes when Rory Vowles slotted a penalty from in front of the posts after Camborne had been penalised for killing the ball but the rest of the first quarter was pretty much a stalemate with neither side able to break down the other’s defence.

It was though somewhat against the run of play when Camborne were the first to breach the line from a short-range line-out. It was all a bit too easy for flanker Chris Fuca to force his way over for the try to give Town the lead and when Callum Rowe put the restart kick directly into touch it began to look like a re-run of the previous week’s game.

It looked much less like that a few minutes later though when a typical dart from Ben Pointon from the base of a ruck on the Camborne 10m line set up Reuben Logan to run in unchallenged from 25m to score under the posts. Vowles' conversion took it to 10-5.

Four minutes later, it got even better for Hornets. They had just been denied a try when Vowles had been adjudged to knock the ball on over the line when trying to ground a kick through by Sam Read. From the drop-out, however, Callum Dacey found himself with ball in hand on halfway. Dacey sidestepped his way through the advancing Town defence, held off a couple of attempted tackles and went under the posts. Vowles converted.

The icing on the cake came in the last minute of the half. A slightly overthrown throw from a Town line-out 10m from their own line went loose, Nigel Mukarati collected and went over for what was one of the easier tries he has scored in his long career. When Vowles added the extras, Hornets were able to go in for the break 24-5 to the good. Three tries in ten minutes had left Town with a mountain to climb.

Hornets though have developed a habit of conceding early in the second period and so it was again. Andy Weaver was penalised in the Hornets 22m for going off his feet and Alex Ducker set up a 5m line-out. From the catch and drive, hooker Ben Priddey, who had been the butt of much humour from the crowd earlier on, was able to peel off to score. His celebration in front of the stand was one of the highlights of the afternoon.

Hornets thought they had restored the gap a couple of minutes later when Dacey forced his way over the line but, to the bewilderment of the crowd, the referee adjudged he had been held up. It seemed a curious decision.

The lead was restored as the quarter was drawing to a close with a beauty of a try. Logan picked up from the base of a Hinckley scrum inside their 22m, fed to Vowles, onto Higginson and then Pointon on halfway who ran to the line for the score. It was scintillating stuff!

Hornets killed off the game with most of the final quarter remaining. A Hinckley line-out inside the Town 22m was claimed by Weaver, driven to 5m and then released right for Mitch Lamb to go through a gap in the Town line for the score. Vowles added the extras to take the score to 36-10.

Camborne claimed a third try with seven minutes remaining when winger Jack Davis found the line after some persistent pressure but it was way too late to make a difference. It did make for something of a harum-scarum last few minutes as Camborne went in search of a four try bonus point, but it was not to be. The Cherry and Whites had to face the long ride back to Cornwall with nothing to show for their efforts.
Nick Robinson