Hinckley gained their 5th bonus point win in a row on Saturday, getting a comfortable win at a venue which has been notoriously difficult to travel to in recent years.

Sam Massaralla and Steve Harvey were brought into the starting team with Joe Glover returning following injury, on a day where a strong Staghounds side won the 2nd XV county cup over Syston.

The visitors, playing in their away strip of red and green on a breezy day went 12 - 0 up within 12 minutes - both tries coming from number 8 Alex Salt, 1 of which was converted by Lord. Playing against the wind this was a very satisfying start.

The game them fell into a relatively dull period where neither side created much or made much inroad, with Longton having the majority of ball and Hinckley defending strongly. This pressure eventually forced moving down field and on the stroke of half time, a tremendous angle from David Peck put him under the posts, with Lord converted for a 19 - 0 half time lead.

The bonus point was secured with a try from Jordan Goddard soon after half time, Lord again converting for a 26 - 0 lead and at this point the game fell into what at times felt like a plod towards the final whistle. Hinckley removed Ben Avent, Joe Glover and David Peck from the action, all nursing minor injuries with next weeks fixture against Nuneaton in mind.

With 20 minutes to play, a major moment of disappointment for Hinckley conceding a try through the middle of the defence allowing a player to run in unopposed from 30 metres, something which will no doubt be spoken about at training this week, however this seemed to kick Hinckley back into gear, scoring two late tries through Josh Smith, and then Sam Greasley with a minute to go. Lord converted both of them.

Not a particularly memorable game, but Hinckley won again as the massive run in to the end of the season is now insight. Realistically, the play off place is now between three teams, Hinckley, Peterborough Lions and Nuneaton. Nuneaton are the opponents next week, followed by Old Hales (who still have a mathematical chance) and finally Peterborough.

All Hinckley eyes however are on the visit of the Nuns next Saturday - we hope to see as many of you there as possible to cheer the boys on.