The Stags travelled to Lincoln knowing that a solitary point would be enough to lift the league trophy in their first season at this level. However, they were pushed all the way by a strong Lincoln side who have promotion aims of their own.

The home side kicked off with the elements at their back and quickly got into their patterns of play, using strong forward runners to make ground, but also using their driving maul and scrum to great effect in the opening periods.

They took a deserved lead on 12 minutes when they kicked a penalty to the corner and drove the Hinckley pack over their own line. The try was unconverted, but Lincoln were 5 points to the good. To make matters worse, Stags stalwart George Marsden was forced to leave the field due to a shoulder injury, replaced by late call up Sam Racklyeft in the inside centre position.

Hinckley came back into the game and started to put some phases of possession together to take play into the Lincoln defensive third. This allowed Josh Leonard to sell a dummy and sprint through a defensive gap to score our opening try of the afternoon to level the scores. The conversion was pulled wide.
Lincoln hit back almost immediately when they moved the ball blind for their loose-head prop to race in from 40 metres, beating several would-be-tacklers on his way to the try line. An outstanding individual score, but the Stags were cursing their own defensive efforts. The conversion was added and Lincoln had taken a 12-5 lead.

Back came the Stags, with Jacob Drabble also exploiting the blind side, albeit from slightly closer distance, to score a deserved try. Leonard’s conversion was again pulled wide, but the gap was down to 2 points. Lincoln scored again, on the stroke of half-time, to stretch their lead further. They again used their rolling maul to make ground close to the Hinckley line and when the maul was dropped, several pick and go’s later they had another try. The conversion hit the post, but Lincoln were ahead by 17 points to 10 at the break.

The strong words from the coaching team at half-time appeared to have fallen on deaf ears when Alex Norris was sent to the sin bin 5 minutes into the second period and then Lincoln secured a try scoring bonus point after further pressure in the Hinckley 22. The try was again unconverted, but the Stags were staring at a 12 point deficit.
Hinckley’s response was almost immediate as they were stung into action. Several penalties allowed Leonard to kick play close to the Lincoln try line and a smart front peel allowed player-coach Steve Harvey to feed Dom Ames to dive into the corner. Leonard’s difficult conversion drifted wide of the uprights, but suddenly Hinckley started to believe in themselves. Craig Bresland and Steve Farrell entered the action in place of Harvey and Adam Jordan, respectively.

It was fitting that Connor Nixon was the player to secure the try-scoring bonus point that confirmed that the destination of the league title would be Hinckley. Cometh the hour, cometh the man. He scored his 15th try of the season in typical fashion, showing strength to break several tackles and then speed to beat the covering defence to score an excellent try. Leonard’s conversion flew through the uprights to level the scores at 22 points a piece. This seemed to simultaneously break Lincoln’s resolve and ease the pressure on Hinckley, as the Stags dominated the remainder of the game and the home side couldn’t live with our new found tempo.

We finally took the lead when Ben Pegler’s storming run down the left hand touchline was halted just short of the Lincoln line and Ames was again on hand to drive over the line to score his 10th try of the season. Leonard had found his kicking boots and again slotted the conversion. 29-22. We also started to manage the game better and this was typified by Leonard’s 50-22, giving us the line out deep in the Lincoln 22. Unfortunately, Nixon undid his excellent earlier work by taking a quick line out and passing straight to the Lincoln winger. Fortunately for him, the ball wasn’t cleared very far and we still had a line out in a promising position.
Leonard scored his second, and our final, try of the game, stepping through a stretched defence to touchdown. His conversion was again successful for a 36-22 lead. This is how the score remained, but there was still time for Pegler to leave the field with a shoulder injury, Racklyeft to enter the sin bin and Farrell to come close to a try of his own.

The final whistle was met with delirium by the Hinckley coaching staff and the travelling support, as the players celebrated Hinckley’s first senior league title since 2002. Although 18 players finished the job, all 54 players that have seen some action in a Stags shirt this season have played a huge part. Credit must go to every single one of them.

MAN OF THE MATCH: this goes to the whole playing squad, the coaching and support staff for a fantastic achievement. Success doesn’t happen without contributions from everyone involved.

Our attention now turns to the final two league matches of the season as we look to pass the 100 point mark and gain revenge on Loughborough for beating us in the first game of the season.

UTS