A much-improved Hinckley recorded their first victory of the season, and their first ever over Clifton, in a thoroughly entertaining game at Leicester Road on Saturday. It was far from easy for the men in Hinckley men and nerves aplenty were evident throughout but Hornets walked away with five points having crossed the whitewash five times to Clifton’s four. With luck, Hinckley will be able to build on the victory in the next few weeks and begin to put behind them what has been a dreadful start to the season. Hinckley remain next to bottom in the table but have now put a little clear water between them and winless Devonport Services and have closed the gap on the clubs immediately above them.

There remains work to be done for the Hornets but this performance was as different from last week’s abject capitulation at (the other) Hornets as chalk is from cheese. The line-out defence was poor – three of Clifton’s four tries came from catch and drives from short-range penalty line-outs in an alarming easy manner – but generally speaking the porous nature of the Hinckley defence last week had been resolved. Man of the Match Sam Greening had his best ever game in a Hinckley shirt, Murray Davidson for the 40 minutes he was on the field impressed in a way he has not done to date, Mitch Lamb was prominent, and debutant Riley Gilbert put in a solid performance considering until very recently he had been playing Colts rugby.

Director of Rugby Chris Campbell was satisfied with the win and the overall performance. ‘We have spoken all week about the importance of addressing our compound errors, and we made big progress on this today. Our penalty count was well down on what it has been and we grew in confidence throughout the game.’

‘It was great to see Riley Gilbert Scott on debut- not many players play 1st XV at 18 but he was some huge potential for us - and Oscar Harper did a great job playing over half the game at hooker after Murray Davidson was forced off through injury at the end of the first half.’

‘We’ve got the win we needed, and onto the huge test at Camborne next weekend.’

Hornets again made a positive start and put the first points on the board after nine minutes. Ben Pointon broke round the front of a Hinckley line-out on halfway and handed on to Murray Davidson in support 35m out. The hooker carried to the 22m and sold an outrageous dummy to the remaining defender that opened up the way to the line for him to run through unchallenged.

It was a great start but the advantage was short-lived. Hinckley conceded a penalty from the re-start, Tom Quinlan kicked the visitors to within 5m, and No. 8 Jake Holcombe emerged from the catch and drive with the try. It was a soft and ominously easy try for the Clifton pack and more than a little frustrating for the home support to see the lead cancelled out so quickly.

Hornets stuck to their task, however, and restored the lead as the game entered the second quarter. With Clifton reduced to 14 men, Callum Dacey kicked a penalty to within 5m of the Clifton line. From the line-out a well-executed catch and drive eventually saw Greening force his way over for the score.

Gilbert went close with a neat chip ahead shortly afterwards which the Clifton defence were forced to carry over into the dead ball area for a kick out from under the posts. The kick was long and Pointon collected inside the Hinckley half, fed Mitch Lamb who set off on a brilliant run to the Clifton 22m. Jamie Dutton was in support and collected the off-load for a simple run in. When Callum Dacey added the extras, Hinckley led 17-5 with half-time fast approaching.

But Hinckley again fell prey to their alarming habit of conceding multiple tries within minutes. Clifton were able to come back with a brace of tries in seven minutes, both converted by Quinlan, to go in at the break 19-17. The first was another simple catch and drive touched down by hooker George Davey after Hinckley had conceded a penalty inside their own 22m. The second came from a Clifton scrum just inside the Hinckley 22m. The ball was sent left and winger Matt Smith was able to round the Hinckley defence for the score. As the players left for the break, unsettling memories of the previous weeks collapse were rekindled.

Hinckley needed a response. They got it! Mitch Lamb collected a loose ball on the Hinckley 22m and carried deep into the Clifton half. Jamie Dutton was on his shoulder and would have had a clear run to the posts had it not been for what the referee deemed to be a deliberate knock-on by flanker Freddie Myatt. Myatt was shown yellow and the referee ran to the posts to award the penalty try. Hinckley were back in front by five.

Hornets got over in the corner a few minutes later after some excellent approach work but the final pass was deemed forward much to the chagrin of the crowd who felt an opportunity to kill the game off had been lost.

Dacey did add a penalty on 56 minutes after the Hinckley eight, who were beginning to dominate the scrum, had earned a scrum penalty but Clifton then pulled it back to a single point on the hour from yet another catch and drive, Tom Anderson this time the beneficiary with Marcus Nel adding the extras. All was set for a nervy final quarter!

And nervy it was but it was Clifton who broke first. With Hinckley now dominating the scrum, Clifton conceded a knock-on from their own scrum ball just outside their 22m. Hinckley took their own scrum ball cleanly, fed the ball right down the line and Gilbert was able to force his way over in the corner. Dacey though couldn’t add the extras and it remained a one score game with 14 minutes still remaining.

It was not a classic last few minutes but Hinckley did hold their nerve and kept the visitors at bay. When Ben Pointon eventually booted the ball dead to end the game there was a palpable sense of relief as the celebrations began.

Nick Robinson