Hinckley Stags made the trip to Ilkeston in unseasonably warm conditions for mid- November expecting a tough game due to Ilkeston’s good home form. The Stags were looking to cement their place at the top of the table before a rest week.

Hinckley started the game strongly and after some early pressure Ilkeston conceded a penalty in their own 22 thanks to a deliberate knock on. A penalty try would have been harsh, but the fact that no yellow card was shown set the tone for the afternoon. Hinckley were able to capitalise, however. The penalty was kicked to the right hand corner by fly-half Lewis Gardner and several phases later Tom Lewis’ long pass found Shaun Hubbard in space to score in the left hand corner. Gardner’s conversion was wide, but Hinckley were on the scoreboard after only 4 minutes. 5-0.

Ilkeston were quick to respond, but it looked like Hinckley had seen out the home teams pressure when they forced the Ilkeston attack into a knock-on. However, from a Hinckley scrum in their own 22 Gardner’s clearance kick was charged down and the Ilkeston scrum half collected the loose ball to score their opening try of the game. This was converted to put Ilkeston into a narrow lead.

The Stags were excellent for the remainder of the half and scored three converted tries in a 10 minute period without reply. On 24 minutes Hinckley’s overthrown line out was cleaned up by Dylan Weddle who found George Marsden in support. Marsden drew in a defender and passed to Connor Nixon who sprinted in from the 10m line. Nixon has made a habit of scoring these kind of tries this season at important moments in games. 5 minutes later Weddle spotted an undefended blindside and scooted up the touchline from a Hinckley ruck 20 metres out. He still had plenty of work to do to hold off two Ilkeston defenders to touch down. The home side were stung into action, but Hubbard was alert to the danger and picked off a long pass from the Ilkeston fly half to race 80 metres to score his second try of the game on 34 minutes. Gardner had found his kicking range and slotted all three kicks at goal. 26-7 and bonus point secured.

On the stroke of half-time second row James Moreton was yellow card for a technical offence in the Hinckley 22 after a spell of Ilkeston pressure, and the home side took advantage to score their second try of the game. This was converted and the half-time score read Hinckley 26 Ilkeston 14.

Early in the second half that man Weddle was heavily involved again. The Hinckley line out won clean ball and when the ball was passed down to the scrum-half he accelerated through a gap in the Ilkeston defence. Prop Ewan Bartlett found himself on Weddle’s shoulder and received a short pass on the edge of the 22. Bartlett managed to hold off a covering defender to score his third try in two games. Not bad for a tight head prop! Gardner again converted for a 19 point lead.

Ben Pegler was introduced into the game in place of Hubbard, but his return from injury was to prove short lived. After a good burst up the middle he slipped and had to leave the field nursing his hamstring, with Hubbard swapping back into the backline. Charlie Hurst also enter the fray in place of Michael Parker. Hinckley were wasteful in the second half and failed to capitalise on lots of possession and territory. A penalty try went begging when another deliberate knock-on in the Ilkeston 22 prevented Dom Ames scoring in the corner, but again the referee kept his cards in his pocket. This allowed Ilkeston back into the game and they didn’t need any invitation. The home side scored their third try of the afternoon under the posts after a period of pressure and this led to a nervy final 10 minutes.

Craig Bresland was introduced into the front row in place of Ewan Bartlett in an attempt to steady the ship, but both Bower and Barnes had to leave the field during this period thanks to a head gash and a concession respectively. The Stags defended well during this period and were able to keep Ilkeston out, who were pushing for two bonus points at this stage, leaving the final score as 33-21 in Hinckley’s favour.

MAN OF THE MATCH: Dylan Weddle - back to his best.

We have a rest week followed by four tough games in the build up to Christmas, starting at home to second placed Lincoln on 26th November.

UTS