Ashby Festival

Sunday started with a blue sky and a set of fixtures ready to keep us on the edge of our seats.

The coaches split the players in to Hinckley A: Causon, Stockton, Curless, Palmer, Moore, Fisher, Halka, Kime, Biggs and Deacon. Hinckley B: Middleton, Doyle, Simmons, Cooper, Stokes, Bennett, Dunne, Chase and Gamble.

Hinckley A:

Hinckley A opened their book in the second fixture of the morning against Burton A. First try went to Hinckley despite losing the toss, courtesy of Stockton to settle nerves. Moore and Fisher quickly added a further try each. Curless, Stockton, Moore, Fisher, Kime and Biggs all started tagging strongly leaving Burton playing catch up at half time with a 3-2 scoreline to chase. Second half and Hinckley opened up Burtons try line uncontested more or less, with Stockton and Kime adding a further try each. Tags from Causon, Stockton, Curless, Palmer and Deacon shut the door on any Burton consolation which showed when they won a 6 tag turnover, finishing 5-2 to Hinckley.

Next up in the pool matches was Vipers A. Again Hinckley lost the toss, to once again win an immediate turnover. Causon, Moore and Palmer put together an inspired section of passing play to score the first try. Moore added a futher two tries in the half to create a 3-1 lead for Hinckley. Biggs, Fisher, Deacon and Causon added a few tags, but Vipers were slow to come back. Second half and Vipers wanted to pull the scores back. Halka came on to score two tries with great effect. Curless added a further try, with Vipes only able to match Hinckley in the second half, making the final score 6-4 to Hinckley.

Final pool match was against a well rehearsed Barton side. First blood went worryingly to Barton, but young heads kept calm and pressed home their response via expansive running from Curless. Curless scored two tries and Stockton added a third to match the Barton scoreline at half time. The first half was marked by a lack of tagging. Second half, team talk over and Hinckley came out determined to defend and tag. Tag rates went up courtesy of Causon, Curless, Palmer, Fisher (the human road block), Halka and Deacon. Causon, Palmer and Halka all scored a try, finishing the score 6-5 to Hinckley, phew! Hinckley A Progressed to the Semi of the Cup.

In the Semi Hinckley A met Sutton Coldfield. Hinckley made a promising start by taking the first try care of Stockton. Sutton soon replied but only after frantic tagging efforts from Curless, Fisher and Moore. Both sides took a further try each through a storm of tags, with Causon, Palmer and Stockton adding to the defense. 2-2 at half time. A strong Hinckley side started for the second half and kept up the pressure. Fewer tags were taken this half but Hinckley didnt slip. Curless and Stockton took our two tries for the half, but on the call of "final play" Sutton had the attacking ball and scored their third. Hinckley will be justified in feeling hard done by given their efforts to this point as they did not progress any further.

Hinckley B:

How unlucky to draw a fresh Market Bosworth side as the first fixture of the day? Even more worryingly, MB won the toss. Hinckley came out of the stalls fighting though and were rewarded with a half time scoreline of 3-3 courtesy of Simmons (hat-trick) and strong defence from Middleton, Doyle, Simmons, Cooper, Bennett and Dunne. Second half and a very determined Bosworth came out tagging at a furious rate. Doyle, Simmons, Bennett and Chase all tried to make up the difference and all took tags, but the Hinckley could not find a route forwards, as MB turned over for a 6 tag restart. Final scoreline was 5-3 to Bosworth.

Second fixture was against Vipers B. Again, Hinckley lost the toss and Vipers scored the first try. Again Hinckley came back to match Vipers, Tagging rates went up massively in this match as Simmons, Middleton, Cooper, Bennett and Dunne strove to hold Vipers in check. Hinckley matched Vipers score for score care of Middleton, Cooper and Dunne tries. 3-3 at half time. Second half started again with heavy tagging from Middleton, Doyle and Simmons, but Hinckley met stiff tagging in return from Vipers. Dunne scored the only Hinckley try this half care of a forwards pass turnover from Vipers. Vipers however proved just half a step ahead and left the pitch with a 5-4 win.

Our final pool match was against Melbourne B. Everyone was showing tired legs after two very energetic fixtures. Tagging rates slipped and the scores on both sides started to rack up. Hinckley finished the first half 4-3 up, care of Doyle (2), Cooper and Gamble, Cooper scoring the first try. Second half saw a reversal of fortunes as a completely fresh Melbourne squad seemed to play their way back in to a win. Middleton scored two tries and Dunne a furher one, but Melbourne had done the damage putting 5 past Hinckley in the second half. Final score 8-7 to Melbourne. Gutted. Hinckley went on to the Plate semi.

Ironically, Hinckley met Melbourne A in the plate Semi. Melbourne won the toss and gave Hinckley the first attack! Middleton was determined to put Hinckley's account back square and scored the opening try. Dunne quickly added two more and Simmons finished off to make the half time score 4-4. Simmons, Dunne, Middleton, Doyle, Cooper and Marzy all took handfuls of tags. Second half was almost an exact reversal of fortunes for the previous match. Dunne scored two tries and Middleton added another right on the final whistle, to finish 7-6 and progress to the shield finals.

Shield Final. Hinckley met a flagging Burton team. Hinckley again lost the toss but quickly made up with a turnover and try from Middleton. A whitewash nearly ensued with Doyle, Simmons and Dunne all freely running, scoring and tagging. Half time score 4-1 to Hinckley. Burton kept the same strategy and results in the second half. Bennett (1), Simmons (2) and Middleton (1) added more tries. Doyle, Simmons, Bennett and Dunne finally shut the door and recorded a convincing 8-2 win. The shield was ours!