Three’s a crowd? Nope, its busy, but a happy challenge!

Match 1 vs. Syston
The squad stepped up and opened the scoring quickly with Dunne taking two tries. Doyle, Dunne and Hicks took rapid tags to stop Syston dead in their tracks. Hicks added a third try, to which Syston had no reply, 3-0 to Hinckley at Half-time. Doyle set the work-rate for tagging in the second half taking 9 tags and again, virtually closing out Syston's efforts. Simmons took 3 tries, Hicks added one more to his tally and the match ended a satisfying 7-2 to Hinckley.
Match 2 vs. Syston
I’ll say at the outset of the report that the result does not reflect the work-rate and commitment of the players against an experienced and physical Syston squad. Moore, Causon and Bennett kept up a heavy tagging rate, Deacon took a tag too. Syston rampaged up the wings knocking players every which way to boss over 8 tries to Causon’s 1 in reply for half-time. Hinckley came back out in the second half and upped their game again. Ironically, the second half score was 5-4 to Hinckley, but it wasn’t enough to peg back Syston’s overall score. Honours go to Middleton, Causon and Bennett for scoring and Moore and Kime for adding tagging skills. 12-6 final score line. Well done all Hinckley players for their restraint and play within the rules – a hard lesson on the day, but one for life I am sure.
Match 3 vs. Loughborough
This match had all the momentum of a drag-race. Both teams brought heavy-weight players and played to win. Palmer and Cooper took tries, and Curless Cooper and Halka deserve mentions for tagging their way to a half time draw of 3-3. The second half began with Halka adding to his tagging tally with gaining confidence, along with Palmer, Gamble, Curless Cooper and Stockton. At the death, Hinckley had the extra gear and pulled a final try out of the bag to leave the final score 7-6 to Hinckley.
Match 4 vs. Syston
For the first few plays, Syston looked like matching Hinckley try for try. Simmons set the pace, taking two tries, Dunne and Stokes adding two more. Hicks and Fisher were all over the pitch tagging, pegging Syston down to a 4-2 first half score line. Running support was evident in spadesful as both halves saw slick passing and thoughtful support running from all Hinckley players (something not reflected in the stats). Half time team talk over from coach Simmons and Hinckley came out firing on all cylinders. Hicks, Doyle, Dunne and Stokes all took further tries whilst Simmons, Hicks and Fisher always had their hands full of Syston tags. Syston only replied one try, leaving the final score line a resounding 9-3 victory.

Match 5 vs. Loughborough
I don’t often comment on opposition play, but Loughborough came out with a well-polished opening turnover ball to score an early try. Loughborough also provided a “fair play” fixture, playing within the spirit of the rules. Bennett and Middleton took tries, but the match saw few tags as both sides ran freely and end to end. First half score was 4-2 in Loughborough’s favour. Second half saw exactly the same score line, with a more determined defence from Hinckley put up by Causon, Moore, Bennett and Marston. Final score 8-4 to Loughborough. The most enjoyable defeat I have watched in years!
Match 6 vs. Syston
A finely balanced match which was aggressively played by both teams from the outset. Try honours go to Palmer, Curless (2), Stockton (3) and Gamble. Curless, Stockton, Cooper, Gamble and Halka all helped out with tagging duties, but two turnovers for Syston led to a final score of 9-7 to Syston.