Nat 2 W match report 10/9/22

Hinckley Hornets 15 Leicester Lions 26

Saturday 10th September 2022

Leicester Lions perseverance triumphs over Hinckley Hornets.

Score:-
Half Time: Hinckley Hornets 3 Leicester Lions 7
Full Time: Hinckley Hornets 15 Leicester Lions 26

League Points: 0-5

Scorers:-
Hinckley Hornets 15: Tries: David Peck (72), Shae Nixon (79); Conversions: Joe Wilson (79); Penalties: Joe Wilson (4);
Leicester Lions 26: Tries: Zac Bean (34, 54), Johnny Murdoch (63), Devon Constant (66); Conversions: Ben Young (34, 54, 63);

Leicester Lions did the double over Hinckley Hornets last season, so Hornets were keen to make amends.

Hornets began playing down the slope, with the breeze at their backs. They immediately started putting Lions under pressure, pushing play towards the Lions’ line. Careless play by Lions led to them conceding a penalty on 4 minutes, which Joe Wilson slotted between the posts for Hornets, giving them a 3-0 lead.

Hinckley’s pressure continued, but Lions defended well.

On 12 minutes Hornets’ Mitchell Lamb was yellow carded for a deliberate knock-on.

As the half proceeded Lions started to return the pressure and push Hornets back into their own half.

On 34 minutes Lions took their own scrum, with the ball worked out to Alex WilHuckleberryson, who dabbed the ball through the Hornets’ defence, for alert winger, Zac Bean, to run through on the right, collect the ball and go over for Lions’ first try of the afternoon, with Ben Young adding the conversion. This took Lions into the lead for the half time break.

Half Time: Hinckley Hornets 3 Leicester Lions 7

In the second half Lions had the assistance of the slope, with the following breeze, and started to exert pressure on Hornets.

On 54 minutes Lions stole the ball off Hornets in open play, moved the ball out to the right for Bean to outrun the Hornets’ defence to go over for his second try of the afternoon, with Young again adding the extras.

On 63 minutes Lions again took the ball off Hornets in tight forward play, with Oli Taylor driving forward and slipping the ball out to back row, Johnny Murdoch, who looped round the Hornets’ defence to go over for a try, with Young placing the conversion between the posts, to open up the score to 3-21, with the advantage to Lions.

This was quickly followed by Lions clearing play from inside their own 22 metre line, passing the ball to Devon Constant on the left wing, who powered his way through the Hornets’ defence to score Lions’ fourth try of the afternoon, claiming the bonus point and taking the score to 3-26.

In the final ten minutes of the game Hornets showed some excellent character coming back at Lions and scoring two tries.

Firstly Hornets’ forward pressure took the play up the slope towards Lions line for David Peck to speed over for Hornets’ first try of the afternoon.

This was soon followed by Hornets’ pressure telling, with them breaking away from inside their own half and Shae Nixon going over for their second try, with Wilson adding the conversion, taking the score to 15-26.

Hornets had left their comeback too late as this try was the last play of the game, with Lions running out deserved winners in a competitive local derby.

Full Time: Hinckley Hornets 15 Leicester Lions 26

Four tries to Lions and two to Hornets. A competitive match enjoyed by an enthusiastic crowd.

Lions are in 2nd position in National League 2 West, with Hinckley Hornets in eleventh position.

Lions Head Coach Gareth Collins said: “Local derbies are always difficult and credit to Hinckley Hornets, with them making us work hard for the win this afternoon. We made too many errors and gave away too many penalties in the first half, which kept them in the game, but once we sorted our discipline we were really dominant. We took a while to settle in to our shapes but when we did we executed some really good attack. It’s been a good start to the season but we won’t get carried away.”

Next week, on Saturday 17th September 2022, Leicester Lions are at home to Newport (Salop), from Shropshire.

Teams: 15-9, 1-8, Replacements:-

Hinckley Hornets: Rory Vowles, Luke Hibberd, Mitchell Lamb, Ben Bevan, Sam Everett, Joe Wilson, Ben Pointon, Oscar Harper, Adam Johnson, Sam Greening, Alex Salt, Andy Weaver, Alex Branson, Oliver Povoas, Henry Povoas – Replacements: Corbin Thunder, David Peck, Harry Bower, Josh Leonard, Shae Nixon

Leicester Lions: Alex WilHuckleberryson, Zac Bean, Jamel Hamilton, Luke Bouchier, Devon Constant, Ben Young, James Stubbs, Tom Williams, Oli Taylor, Isaac Thompson, Will Ward, Oli Tapscott, Simon Johnson, Johnny Murdoch, Nick Cairns - Replacements: Will Roberts, Shaun Murray, Ethan Godefroy, Dan Martin, Will Helliwell