Under 7s, 8s & 9s at Oakham
Sunday 24th January 2010
Under 7s
Even match away to Oakham for Hinckley U7s
A squad of two U7s teams travelled to Oakham this week. After an extended Christmas-New Year break, Hinckley soon warmed up in this fixture, made tougher by the uncharacteristically large pitches. Oakham also fielded two teams allowing 6 games of well-matched rugby to be played.
In game one both teams defended well to limit the damage at either try-line, a difficult task given the width of the pitch. It was all square at half time with 3 tries each for home and away, with Johnson and Towers (2) putting Hinckley’s points on the board. The second half was equally as close with tries from Towers and Barnes, but Oakham too k the game with a last minute winner. Oakham 6, Hinckley 5.
As game one was being played out, Hinckley’s other team were holding the home team well, matching their opposition try for try. One each for Babb, Payne, Burton and Perkins, complimented with some determined tagging from Babb, Burton and Lockett, keeping Oakham at bay long enough to hold them to a 4-4 draw.
Suitably warmed up, the teams were mixed up for the next two games, which once again kicked off at the same time, although with different results. Hinckley’s third game saw them play strongly against Oakham with some strong individual runs to the line from Burton, Payne (2), and Lockett, with Burton in particular showing excellent support play leading to his try. The second half started with everything to play for at 4-4 each, but Hinckley defended well, and frequently turned Oakham’s ball to deliver a well-earned victory at 7-9 with additional tries from Burton, Lockett (2), Perkins and Babb.
Play was not running so smoothly for Hinckley on the other pitch where, despite fantastic performances from Hubbard and Towers with three tries each, Oakham found their groove and ran in twice as many as Hinckley although Towers’ and Hubbard’s equal efforts in tagging their opponents may well have prevented a bigger gap in the scoreline, which finished 12-6, with tired legs on both sides.
With time left for another shake-up in personnel however, and 4 willing teams of enthusiastic players, another two matches were played. Hinckley triumphed in the first of these games – the scoreline finishing 4-5, with tries from Inman, Goodwin, Payne and Babb (2).
The final kick-off however was less satisfying for Hinckley with a 5-6 defeat from a close game which saw Johnson, Hubbard, Barnes and Towers all cross the try line successfully. Oakham stole the game however in the closing seconds of the match.
Two well-matched squads played very well after an unfortunate extended break on testing pitches. Well done Hinckley U7s – a promising start to 2010.
Under 8s
U8’s struggle in first competitive match of 2010.
Our first fixture of 2010 found us all making the long journey to Oakham to take part in a mini-triangular tournament alongside our hosts and West Bridgeford. It was a chilly morning and the children were up for the fixture having not played a match since December 6th, a whole 7 weeks ago.
The first match saw West Bridgeford B as the opposition and Hinckley played some fine Rugby to record a 20 points to 5 victory. Tries coming from Coupland in the first half and England, Thomas and Pye in the second half.
The second of three games saw Hinckley then compete against West Bridgeford A. The first half saw some good attacking play from the opposition as well as some very rusty defending from Hinckley and the 10-20 scoreline at half time reflected this. Head Coach Mark Campion tried to rally the players and an improvement in the defence was evident. However needless turn over ball from handling errors and offsides saw the opposition record three more tries against Hinckleys two, resulting in a final score of 20-35. The try scorers for Hinckley were Pye and Coupland in the first half and the ever improving Dimbleby weighed in with both second half tries.
The last of the matches was against our hosts Oakham and a well drilled outfit took the first half by storm recording 4 tries to Hinckley’s one. The second half saw a small improvement but another defeat was looming, as Oakham posted another two tries against Hinckley’s one resulting in a scoreline of 10-30. Both tries were scored by Pye meaning that he was the only player to score in every match today, a real achievement considering the quality of the opposition.
All the children were disappointed by the two losses and some seemed to be in a state of shock having had a fairly good success rate in previous fixtures this season. However its back to training this coming weekend and an opportunity for the coaches to try and brush away a few more cobwebs before our next fixture against Leicester Forest East.
Under 9s
Hinckley Under 9s Sponsored by Jason Oliver (Snap On Tools) travelled to Oakham in a triangular series of matches in which Westbridgeford also took part, Hinckley once again fielded Lions and Tigers despite the long trip.
Game 1:
Tigers took to the field first, in what proved to be a one sided match which the home side Oakham(1) dominated from start to finish, Oakham ran in three first half scores which Hinckley failed to stop due to an awful tackling display. Despite some slightly better tackling in the second half from Nixon,Sharkey Oakham continued to dominate all over the pitch to run in two more unanswered tries to end the match Oakham 25pts Hinckley pts.
Game 2:
Tigers up next against Oakham (2) and once again the home side got off to a blistering start running in two first half scores, despite this Hinckley put in a spirited effort, Howe putting in a great tackle count and Lockett with his physical presence up front.
The second half continued with Oakham showing their pace to run in three more tries, Hinckley never gave up, Lockett running in a great solo effort from a restart to give Hinckley a well earned score. Oakham 30pts Hinckley 5pts.
Game 3:
Hinckley Lions next match saw a much better performance against Westbridgeford, great tackle counts from Nixon,Sharkey, and Inman, helped Hinckley to a healthy half time lead.
Hinckley continued their dominance in the second half with scores from Coghlan(1),Upton(1),a brace from Nixon(2), and a Hat Trick from Sharkey(3),to end the match Hinckley 35pts Westbridgeford 15pts.
Game 4:
Whilst the Lions were playing Westbridgeford, and only enough time to play one more game, Tigers were again up against Oakham(1) and (2) playing a half each. The first half saw Oakham(1) run in four unanswered tries despite another spirited performance by the Hinckley forwards. The second half saw Oakham bring on fresh legs, and again Hinckley’s dogged determination and great tackling from Lockett, and Howe, only conceeded one more try to end the match Oakham 25pts Hinckley 0pts.
