Hornets returned to Leicester Road this Saturday to take on West Midlands rivals Stourbridge who were sitting two places and six points ahead of Hinckley in the table. Like Hornets, Stour have suffered from inconsistency throughout the season to date and this will probably be a day they will want to forget.

It wasn’t a match to set the pulse racing but Hornets went about their business with a disciplined efficiency not always seen this season and came away with a five point haul which they thoroughly deserved. Stour rarely challenged the line and in truth never looked like scoring at any time. Their scrum was demolished by Hornets and they showed little behind the pack to suggest that they would be challenging the league leaders at the business end of the season.

In his programme notes, DOR Scott Hamilton had called for greater discipline from his men, suggesting that previous ill discipline had been a major contributor to earlier defeats in close run games. The men in black and amber responded superbly dramatically reducing the penalty count against them. In contrast, Stour were heavily penalised throughout the afternoon.

‘I’m a happy man,’ commented Hamilton after the game. ‘That was probably our best game of the season to date. If I was to criticise, I think we should have scored more points. Our red zone attack in the first half in particular was a bit blunt and there was a time when I didn’t think we were going to get the bonus point but credit to the lads, they pulled it out of the bag in the last ten minutes. The scrum went well and I was pleased to see us challenging more for the 50:50 balls, something we have worked on this week. We had a few problems in the line-out again so we’ll have to have another look at that but we’re in a good place ahead of next weeks game with Sheffield Tigers.’

Hinckley had much the better of the early exchanges but had to wait until the 17th minute to register their first score. From a Hinckley line-out just inside the Stour half, the ball was fed left eventually finding Callum Dacey out wide. Dacey carried deep into the Stour 22 and managed to keep the ball alive as he was brought down, and Mitch Lamb, celebrating his 27th birthday, was on hand to dart into the corner for the score.

Stour did peg three points back just four minutes later when fly-half Chris Scott slotted a penalty awarded in front of the posts just 25m out but that was to prove their only score of the afternoon.

From the re-start, Hornets recovered the ball and won a penalty under on 30m in front of the posts allowing Joe Wilson to restore Hinckley’s advantage. Wilson repeated the act from a similar position on the half-hour after Hornets took a scrum against the head and won the penalty from a struggling Stour pack.

The secomd try came as the half was coming to a close. A booming 50m penalty from Wilson took Hornets to the Stour 22m line. Hornets claimed the line-out ball and a clever reverse pass to Lamb, cutting in from his wing, gave him a clear run to the line for his second of the game. Wilson’s conversion sent Hinckley in at the interval with an 18-3 advantage.

Most of the second period was forgettable. Hornets struggled for possession for much of it but Stour did not look capable of taking advantage. It was not until the 75th minute, with the home support thinking they were going to have to settle for a four point win, that anything of note occurred.

The Hinckley scrum had been dominant throughout the afternoon and the score was suitable reward for that dominance. Stour were awarded a scrum around 8m from their own line but failed to hold the Hinckley push and were penalised. Hornets opted to scrum again and proceeded to shunt the Stour pack behind their own line allowing Alex Salt to touch the ball down for the score. Wilson converted.

The bonus point try came as the referee was preparing to blow for time and again it was the pack who delivered. Hornets secured a line-out 10m from the Stour line and a well executed catch and drive saw Luke Colman go over for the score. Wilson again converted and the referee brought proceedings to an end at 32-3.

The victory leaves Hornets in 9th place in the table still two places behind Stourbridge. However, with three games to go before the Christmas break, all against teams just ahead of Hornets in the table, a top 6 position going into the New Year is still a realistic possibility.

Nick Robinson