Hinckley 23 Luctonians 17

This was a better, much, much better, performance than Hornets’ display the previous week against Loughborough. It was far from perfect, and there were still too many mistakes in evidence for the liking of the coaching team, but there was at least heart and commitment on show, and many of the errors could be attributed to a lack of confidence rather than a lack of skill.

Hornets welcomed back veteran performers Luke Coltman and Matt Fearn and both had significant influence in the outcome of the game. Coltman’s throwing transformed the Hornets’ lineout from the abject display in previous weeks and Fearn was a solid presence in the pack where Alex Tansley again shone, and Jamie Skerritt too had a fine game.

The Hinckley men did, however, make heavy weather of their victory against what proved a limited, if resolute Luctonians side. Hornets utterly dominated possession throughout with the pack destroying their opposite numbers in the scrum and, under normal circumstances, would have expected to win by a far higher margin than they did. Perhaps understandably, though, Hornets appeared nervous throughout, and those nerves translated into a failure at crucial moments to drive home the opportunities that had been created. Despite that though, they did win, and registered their first points of the season in the process.

‘We needed a win today,’ commented Director of Rugby Scott Hamilton after the game. ‘We were bottom of the table without a point and another loss would have left us in a messy situation. Fortunately, the lads delivered. We aren’t getting carried away though. There is still much to work on. We had a lot of ball today but only managed the four tries. The line-out and scrum both went well and probably won us the game but against a more efficient line-out defence we may still have struggled. That said, we’re happy with the win.’

One area that Hornets must improve is their start. For the third Saturday in a row, Hornets conceded a try in the first 5 minutes. This time, Hinckley were caught offside on their own 22m after conceding the kick-off, and Lucts kicked for the corner. The first catch and drive was held but a second off-side gave Lucts another chance and this time they made it count. Josh Phipps converted and Hornets were 7-0 down within the first two minutes.

That seemed to stir the Hornets and for most of the remainder of the half, Lucts found themselves under siege. It wasn’t until well into the second quarter though that Hinckley managed to breach the Lucts’ line. A penalty to Hinckley 30m out gave Joe Wilson the chance to kick to the corner. A short line-out throw to Fearne at the front of the line was returned to Coltman who had only 5m to make to cross the line. Wilson missed the conversion but Hinckley were on their way.

The siege continued but Hornets were not able to add to the score and it was Lucts who notched the next score. On the cusp of half-time, Lucts kicked deep into the Hinckley 22m to set up a rare incursion in the Hinckley half. Hornets won the lineout but Dave Peck was caught in front of his own posts and penalised for holding on. It was a simple kick for Phipps to take Lucts into the interval with what was an undeserved 10-5 lead.

On the return, Hinckley soon drew level. Hornets collected a Luctonians knock-on on the 10m line, fed along the line for debutant winger Leo Gilliland to run in from 35m.

A couple of minutes later, Hornets grabbed their third try. Scrum half Ben Pointon broke from halfway on a spectacular solo run but was adjudged held up over the line. Luctonians were penalised at the resulting scrum but Hinckley opted to scrum again. This time Tansley picked up at the back of the scrum but couldn’t initially force his way over. A series of pick and drives, however, eventually saw Wilson force his way over for the score. The conversion went wide but Hornets were in the lead for the first time.

The rest of the half was a re-run of the first. Hinckley had all the possession but were seemingly unable to score. It was not until the dying minutes that Dacey was able to pull Hornets clear with a penalty from 25m and the home support began to feel that they would have to be content with just a four point win.

There was a further twist though. Deep into stoppage time, a yellow card for Luctonians Mike Cheasley just inside the Hinckley half after an intervention by the touch judge allowed Wheatcroft to set up a final line-out chance 15m from the Lucts’ line. The line-out was taken, and driven to 5m by the pack before being released along the line for Hamilton to go over by the posts.

That seemed to be that but Hornets conspired to hand a final try to Lucts from a bizarre restart. Hinckley gathered the kick-off and Pointon, in attempting to kick the ball off the park to end the game, managed to slice the kick back into the in-goal area and was then penalised for a deliberate knock-on in attempting to recover the situation. The Lucts pack gratefully drove over from the penalty and Phipps’ conversion brought them within 7 for the bonus point.

It was an inauspicious end to the game but Hornets had got the win and the bonus point to send the home support home relieved, if not bubbling. The hope is that they can now take a little confidence from that win into their next game against the early season surprise front-runners, Hull.

Nick Robinson