It has been a long time coming but Hinckley finally got off the mark at Leicester Road on Saturday with a 10 try thrashing in the autumn sunshine of fellow early season strugglers Westcliff. On a day perfect for open running rugby, Hornets took advantage of a much-weakened Westcliff side, whose injury list may be even longer than Hornets’ own, to make hay in the sun. A hat-trick for Rory Vowles, a brace for Joe Wilson and tries for Andy Weaver, Adam Johnson, Adam Nunney, Josh Smith, and debutant Aaron Florestein completed the rout. Joe Wilson added eight conversions to complete a near perfect day for the big winger marred only by two misses in the last ten minutes which arguably were the two easiest of the day. By that time nobody really cared! Westcliff never gave up but, on the day, they were simply incapable of holding back the black and gold waves crashing around them.

In a complete contrast to earlier games, it started well for Hornets! After some early ‘handbags’ between the two packs, Joe Wilson drilled a penalty into the corner, Weaver took the line-out catch and was driven in textbook fashion to the line for the score. With Wilson adding the extras, it was 7-0 after five minutes.

It took until the second quarter, however, for Hornets to register the next score, despite enjoying the vast majority of possession. Pressure eventually told after a series of penalty awards in the Westcliff 22m gave the pack another opportunity to drive for the line from a short-range line-out. Adam Johnson came up with the ball and Wilson converted.

Adam Nunney was next onto the scoreboard after Euan Kelly caught an errant Westcliff penalty in his own 22m and initiated a move which saw Hornets driving the length of the field over multiple phases with some wonderful handling to put Nunney in at the corner.

The bonus point came just a couple minutes later when Hornets stole Westcliff line-out ball on halfway and again worked their way to the Westcliff 22m for Rory Vowles to break the line and run in unchallenged for the score.

In contrast to earlier weeks, it was a contented home crowd basking in the sun at half-time and they didn’t have to wait long for the next score. The Hornets pack pushed Westcliff off their own ball at a scrum just inside the Westcliff half, Pointon collected and fed Wilson on the blind side for the wing to charge to the line for his first try on 44 minutes.

Another end to end move just 2 minutes later saw Josh Smith this time grab the score after some more delightful handling involving forwards and backs, and Vowles grabbed his second when line-out ball on the Westcliff 10m line was fed along the line for him to go over in the corner.

At 49-0 the crowd were in seventh heaven, but Westcliff did pull one back as the match entered the final quarter. Some somewhat careless handling from Hornets in their own 22m saw Westcliff seize on the loose ball and set up a series of pick and drives to finally release wingman Tyler Ford for a well-deserved try.

It did nothing to stem the points tsunami though as Westcliff tired. Vowles got his third from a scrum in the Westcliff 22m on 68 minutes, Wilson went over for his second 5 minutes later, and Aaron Florestein completed a happy day for the Hornets with a debutant try with the final move of the day from yet another line-out drive.

After the trials of the last few weeks, this felt like redemption and there is little doubt that it will be a massive boost to the team’s confidence. The pack was utterly dominant, and the quality of the handling was approaching the level on display towards the end of last season. That said, the victory has to be taken in context. Westcliff are winless in six games and have now leaked 262 points in those six games, an average of 44 points per game. There will be better days ahead for ‘the Lions’ when their walking wounded are able to return to the fray but at present, they are some way short of the quality of opposition elsewhere in the League.

A buoyant Scott Hamilton was of similar mind. ‘It’s feels good to get that first win and get the monkey off your back. There were some good performances out there and I was particularly pleased that we scored more points in the second half than the first. When you get a big lead there is often a tendency to force things a little and things can fall apart a bit. That didn’t happen today.’

‘Clearly though, Westcliff are struggling a little at the moment. They stuck at it and showed some real pluck, but I think next week’s game at Esher will be a better gauge of where we are as a side. As I’ve mentioned before, I think we are improving week by week and this was another step forward.’

‘What is also good is that the came through the game with only a couple of minor knocks. With the guys we expect to be back in contention next week, it means that we can at last look forward to some healthy debate over selection. I’m hopeful that we can come away from Esher with another win under our belts.’

Nick Robinson