Worcester Festival

A ten man Hinckley squad travelled to Worcester for their festival today. Stockton, Simmons, Palmer, Middleton, Curless, Causon, Cooper, Dunne, Doyle and Gamble.

Match 1 vs. Malvern A. Hinckley lost the toss and almost characteristically had a slow start. Worryingly, Malvern took the first try, but it wasnt long before tagging efforts were rewarded and Hinckley took a 7-tag turnover to score. Scores from Simmons (1) and Dunne (2) drew the scoreline for half time, with tagging coming mainly from Causon, Doyle and Simmons. Second half was opened by Curless scoring and fluid early passes making space for Palmer and Curless to add another each. Causon, Cooper and Palmer took some tries resulting in a final scoreline of 6-6.

Match 2 vs. Worcester Blue. Lady luck shone on the toss and we started with a try from Simmons. Worcester pulled a try back, but soon after Gamble forced a knock on turnover, allowing Middleton to take a further try. Stockton added one more and Simmons a further two to only one more in reply from Worcester to make a half time score of 5-2. The tagging from Stockton, Simmons, Middleton and Gamble made the result look beyond doubt, even at this point. Second half and Worcester could only manage one more consolation try. Cooper, Curless, Dunne and Causon all took a further try each. Stockton, Cooper, Curless and Causon all pretty much took tags at will. Final score 9-3 to Hinckley.

Match 3 vs. Hereford A. Hereford won the toss and took their first and only try of the half soon after. Rain meant the ball slipped every-which-way and mistakes aplenty on both sides were made. Hinckley made the better effort and took tries care of Doyle and Simmons for a 2-1 half-time score. Unforced errors featured in the second half too on both sides with players running in to touch to give Hinckley a much needed turnover. Tagging now increased in pressure and Hinckley closed the door care of Palmer, Simmons Doyle and Stockton. Palmer and Cooper closed out two fine tries to make the final scoreline 4-2.

Match 4 vs. Silhillians (Solihull). How unlucky....we lost the toss again! Silhillians looked for the first half to be the match of Hinckley. Frantic tagging from Palmer, Doyle, Causon and Curless stopped a rout and created two turnovers. Quick offloads created a 3-3 scoreline at half-time care of tries from Dunne (2) and Gamble (1) in a half pitch run cheered on by all. Second half and Stockton and Simmons came on to great effect. The pace stepped up with Simmons taking 7 tags. Silhillians managed one more try this half, but left Hinckley free to run in tries at will almost. Tries from Stockton (1), Simmons (2), Causon (1) and Dunne (1). Final score 8-4.

This took us to the Cup final competition versus Worcester Gold team.

The rain came down again but our luck seemed to have changed as we won the toss. All 10 players lined up to take their turn in the fixture. Our luck seemed to be holding at half time, albeit Worcester were putting up a strong fight. Doyle (1) and Middleton (2) tries held Worcester to 3-3 at half time, with tagging honours going to Doyle, Palmer, Simmons, Causon and Dunne. The second half began and Worcester took advantage over a couple of unforced errors. Despite valliant efforts from Hinckley, we could only manage one more try from Palmer to their two tries. Palmer was dissappointed to have one try disallowed. Final score 5-4 to Worcester.

An excellent final match in a great season. We look forwards to more exciting Sunday mornings next season!