U16s -Sch year 11
Matches
Sat 22 Apr 2017
Old Coventrians
45
35
Hinckley Rugby Club
U16s -Sch year 11
Close But No Cigar!

Close But No Cigar!

Paul Goodwin24 Apr 2017 - 14:56
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Match Report: by Andy Duggins. Old Coventrians 45 v Hinckley 35 22nd April 2017

Hinckley Under 13s nearly pulled off the “mother of all comebacks” against a strong Old Coventrians team in a very entertaining Saturday afternoon warm up game.
Hinckley kicked off, immediately taking the game to Old Coventrians with strong early runs by Salisbury, Goodwin and Underwood. Hinckley inched their way up to the opposition’s five metre line but, from a turnover ball, Old Coventrians launched their first attack from inside their own 22 metre line, breaking through Hinckley’s defence to score the first try of the game.
Hinckley bounced straight back from the re-start with runs from Guest, Newitt, Giles, Ellershaw and Bourne. Old Coventrians then broke from a scrum but a solid tackle by Ellershaw stopped the attack. Hinckley stole the ball and made good yards into Old Coventrians half through Duggins, Hurley-Smith, Mensforth-Grove, Guest and Fray. Old Coventrians then enjoyed a decent spell of territory and possession, tackles from Hurley-Smith, Goodwin and Duggins keeping them at bay initially, until one of their forwards crashed through for try number two.
Old Coventrians launched another attack as the game re-started, Hinckleys defence again holding firm initially until one of the opposition’s back line found a gap to score their third try, followed shortly by try number four increasing the home side’s lead to 20-0.
Old Coventrians continued to use their powerful forward to try and break the gain line, but a solid tackle by Underwood stopped him short. The opposition, however, re-cycled the ball quickly and passed it out wide to their right winger who scored in the corner to take the score to 25-0.
Hinckley did not lose faith and attacked from the kick-off with runs from Underwood and Giles, but Old Coventrians turnover over the ball and broke to score their sixth try and give them a commanding 30-0 lead which was increased to 35-0 shortly afterwards when they pierced Hinckley’s defence following the re-start.
As half time approached Hinckley U13s suddenly came to life, taking the ball up to Old Coventrians 10 metre line through strong runs from Underwood, Hurley-Smith, Salisbury, Bourne and Ingrams. The ball was quickley re-cycled from a ruck and passed to Underwood who sprinted over for Hinckley’s first try of the game, giving them hope as the half time whistle blew with the score at 35-5 to Old Coventrians.
All Hinckley’s replacements came on for the second half which Old Coventrians kicked off. An inspired Hinckley team went straight on the offensive, making good ground through runs from Guest and Burton. Moore was in support to take the ball and dance his way through Old Coventrians’ backs to score Hinckley’s second try taking the score to 35-10.
Hinckley continued to attack as the game re-commenced, Miller, Fountaine and Piela making notable runs. The ball was retained and passed through the hands of A. Whittingham to Smith who showed impressive pace and power to score Hinckley’s third try, reducing the deficit to 35-15.
Hinckley kicked back to Old Coventrians at the re-start and immediately turned over the ball after a superb tackle by Giles. Hinckley’s backs again demonstrated good handling skills, getting the ball out wide to Smith who sprinted through for his second try and Hinckley’s fourth, taking the score to 35-20.
Hinckley were now the dominant force, Guest stealing the ball from a maul which was fed to Piela on the right wing but he was tackled on the opposition’s 22m line. Old Coventrians resorted back to trying to gain territory through their big forwards but thundering tackles from Burton and Moore stopped them in their tracks.
Hinckley regained possession and took the game back into Old Coventrians half with runs from Toon and Miller. Old Coventrians then won a scrum just inside their own half and made a clean break up to Hinckley’s try line but a great tackle from Piela forced a five metre scrum, from which Old Coventrians passed the ball wide and scored their first try of the second half, increasing their lead to 40-20.
Hinckley knew they still had an opportunity to even the score, Fountaine making a break from the re-start with Underwood in support, who got within yards of the opposition try line before off-loading to Smith to score his hat-trick and Hinckley’s fifth try, taking the score to 40-25.
Smith then collected the ball from OId Coventrians’ kick-off, making excellent ground up to the opposition’s 22m line. Burton was in support, taking a superb off-load but was tackled just short of the try line. Hinckley re-cycled the ball quickly and passed it out wide to Fountaine who showed his pace to run in Hinckley’s sixth try, closing the gap to 10 points at 40-30.
Hinckley now had the bit between their teeth and runs from Smith and Fountaine took them close to Old Coventrians’ line once again as the game re-commenced. This time Old Coventrians stole the ball at a ruck and attacked from deep within their own half but Hinckley’s defence stood firm with notable tackles from Goodwin, Moore, Wainde and A. Whittingham. The opposition, however, managed to retain possession and get the ball to their big forward who eventually broke through to score and increase their lead to 45-30.
Hinckley launched what was to be their final attack from the re-start, with powerful runs from Guest, Duggins and Goodwin, who displayed great handling skills to off-load the ball to Smith to run in his fourth and Hinckley’s seventh try of the match.
Hinckley had, unfortunately, run out of time as the referee blew the final whistle, but they had demonstrated great spirit throughout the whole squad in a very entertaining and well contested game, the final score Old Coventrians 45 v Hinckley 35.

Match details

Match date

Sat 22 Apr 2017

Kickoff

14:00

Meet time

13:30

Instructions

Curtain raiser
Team overview
Further reading