Hinckley made it three wins out of four and notched their first away win of the season with a six try victory, including a hat-trick for Murray Davidson, overcoming a lively Exeter team who constantly threatened to break the shackles that Hornets tried to impose on their young side. In contrast to earlier wins, however, this one belonged to the pack. Although the Exeter scrum was, somewhat unexpectedly, solid throughout, the home side struggled to hold the big rampaging Hinckley forwards with man of the match Ollie Bee, Jack Ramshaw, Devon Coulson and Josh Kent regularly breaking the Exeter defensive line. Five of the six the Hinckley tries were scored by the forwards and came directly from short range penalty line-outs, with Sam Everett grabbing the other; three were driven by the pack directly from the line-out.

The bonus point win points did not change Hinckley’s league position but, with both Macclesfield and Devonport losing, did create some clear water between them and the bottom two, and a win next week against Redruth could see Hinckley leapfrog their hosts on Saturday and conceivably rise to a mid-table position.

It was not plain sailing though. Hinckley made far more mistakes than they would have liked (their restart was an issue) and their kicking out of hand was a little indifferent on occasions. And the last ten minutes proved a very nervy affair as two converted Exeter tries brought the Students within a score until Callum Dacey calmed things down with a penalty to take Hornets ten points clear again. It was though another step towards rebuilding the team’s confidence after their disastrous start to the campaign.

DOR Chris Campbell was a satisfied man at the end. ‘We showed improvement again today. Tactically, we probably played the best we have all year although some areas of execution still need a lot of work. I felt we did a really good job of spoiling Exeter ball, and we were very efficient when we entered the home 22.’

‘I felt the forwards play around the park was good as well as seeing some good execution at the maul. We just have to keep improving. As I said last week, we are playing catch up and that continues next week against Redruth.’

It was the Students though that started the better side. After just three minutes, Hornets were penalised for a high tackle and Exeter set up a line-out 10m from the Hinckley line which Hornets failed to defend and hooker Josh MacAndrew touched down from the back of the maul. When Sam Walker converted for the home side, Hinckley were 7 down in as many minutes.

But Hornets responded quickly with a well executed catch and drive of their own from 10m after Walker had been carded for taking out Riley Gilbert in the air, an offence which earned him ten minutes in the bin. Davidson was the scorer but Callum Dacey couldn’t make the conversion.

Hinckley were not able to take advantage of the extra man but did grab the next score and the lead. A typical Ben Pointon break from the back of a scrum just inside the Exeter half, and a chip to the wing from Matt Guilfoyle almost put Everett in at the corner but he was beaten to the ball. A drop-out under the posts was fielded by Hinckley who began a patient but effective drive to the line which eventually saw Everett crash over for his try which this time Dacey converted.

Exeter were certainly not done though and were back on level terms seven minutes later. Will Callan earned a card for a foolish tackle in the corner close to the line and the Students set up a line-out 5m from the line. This time the catch and drive was held but the ball was released left to the far wing and wing-man Dewi Thomas was able to round Gilbert for the score.

That was 12-12 with the first period coming to a close, but Exeter conceded two penalties in quick succession to allow Hornets to set up yet another short-range line-out which was duly driven over with some ease to give Davidson his second try and Hinckley a 17-12 half-time lead.

Had Hinckley got the next score, it was likely that they may have gone on to a comfortable victory. That will not have escaped the Exeter coaching staff, however, and the Students came out fighting. They forced a penalty from Hinckley inside the Hinckley 22m and kicked to the corner for the line-out. Hinckley defended the drive well and almost forced the Exeter pack into touch but allowed prop Owain Watts to wriggle off the back of the maul to touch down in the corner for a try to level the scores at 17-17.

Hinckley were however beginning to get on top and a penalty for a tackle off the ball by Students allowed them to set up another line-out inside the Exeter 22m. The catch was taken and the maul driven to 5m before being halted. Several phases later though Ollie Bee drove over for the score which Dacey converted.

Two more tries followed. The first was from Jack Ramshaw crashing over from short-range after another catch and drive had taken the pack to within 5m. The second was again a short-range line-out that was this time driven right to the line for Davidson to claim his hat-trick try. Dacey converted both to give Hinckley a 17-38 lead with just 15 minutes to go.

Hornets looked to be comfortable but Students can never be written off and began to play with some freedom as first they chased the bonus point and then the win.

A series of penalties were awarded against Hinckley, the last of which saw Exeter within 5m of the Hinckley line. They opted to tap and drive and Albert Dowse eventually forced his way over and Walker converted with 9 to go.

Next, centre Harrison Hall went over at the end of a move that had started on the halfway, although there did appear to be a blatant obstruction missed by the referee early in the move that prevented Ramshaw tackling his man. Again, Walker converted to take the Students within 7 points with three minutes left. With Students in the ascendant, the travelling support were nervous.

It proved to be unwarranted, however. The Students conceded a penalty 30m out in front of the posts and Dacey calmly slotted it between the posts. Hinckley claimed the ball from the restart and played out time before Guilfoyle booted the ball into touch to end the game in near darkness.

Nick Robinson