On Saturday Broadstreet lost their fourth consecutive game this season and their third at home, to Hinckley RFC in what was a pretty poor exhibition of National League 3 Midlands rugby from both sides writes Luke Truslove.

The first 35 minutes of the game saw both teams' kickers, Broadstreet Fly Half Scott Harman and Hinckley Scrum Half Thomas Short exchange a number of penalties, so that with five minutes to go of the First Half, Hinckley were leading 9-6.  It was at this point that Broadstreet were reduced to 14 men as Openside Flanker Chris Zutic was Sin-Binned for tackling a man without the ball when Hinckley were on a rare threatening attack.  6-9.

This however proved to be the catalyst for Broadstreet as they came to life for a very short period in the closing minutes of the half.  Hinckley were on the attack in the Broadstreet 22 and were met with a thumping tackle from Centre Jordan Simpson which allowed a quick turnover.  Scrum Half Nick Thatcher shot blind and fed Full Back Jon Duncan who added the necessary speed to put Hinckley on the back foot despite being deep in Broadstreet territory.  A quick one-two exchange with Nick Thatcher who beat a couple of defenders and Jon Duncan fed Wing Pete Bicknell to power through the remaining two defenders in a 50 metre sprint to the line.  Conversion by Scott Harman.  13-9.

With less than a minute to go of the Half, the Hinckley re-start was comfortably claimed by the Broadstreet pack.  Stewart Hendry emerged from the back of the ensuing ruck and powered through the initial defensive line and straight through onto the Full Back.  Stewart Hendry distributed well to feed Jordan Simpson who added the extra burst of speed to get the ball out to Wing Ian Renard to attack up the left wing and into the Hinckley 22.  Quick recycling allowed the ball to be whipped back across the Broadstreet backline where Ross Bayston cut a good enough line to cross the Hinckley whitewash almost untouched under the posts.  Conversion by Scott Harman 20-9.

HT: 20-9.

After the momentum gained at the end of the First Half and with the return of Ziggy Zutic from the Sin-Bin, it seemed that Broadstreet could make this a comfortable win. However, any confidence gained from their improved passage of play seemed to disappear as Hinckley chipped away at our advantage with a number of decent strikes from goal kicker Thomas Short, aided by Broadstreet’s high penalty count.  After just 20 minutes of the Second Half and without asking us any real questions inside our own 22, Hinckley were back to within five points of our lead.  20-15.

With 15 minutes left, Hinckley took the lead once more when Full Back Sam Southall scored Hinckley’s first try of the match after some terrible defensive alignment from Broadstreet allowed Hinckley’s Backs round the outside of the struggling Broadstreet Front Row Forwards. Thomas Short continued his accomplished kicking display to add the extras.  20-22.

With five minutes left, a second Hinckley attack broke through to the Street Full Back and as Hinckley Wing Tomasi Moceletu was tackled the ball flew forward ten metres to land over the Broadstreet Try-line.  The old adage is 'Play to the Referee’s whistle'.  Whilst the Broadstreet players stopped, the Referee also seemed to stop as the Hinckley supporters exclaimed that the knock-on had wasted a good try-scoring opportunity.  Full Back Sam Southall followed up the ball and touched it down over the line.  After some extended moments of .... did he/didn’t he? ..... Try/No Try? ..... the Referee confirmed the five points scored.  20-27.

The last few minutes were played out poorly as both teams seemed determined not to raise the standard of play for the spectators. All in all, a disappointing weekend for Broadstreet supporters as their team never seemed like they got off the bus, despite the fact we were playing at home.  The Street Faithful will be hoping for displays with bit more passion during the remainder of the season.

FT: 20-27.

MotM – Very few players pushing for recognition this week, but despite our Forwards being second best for most the game, Number 8 Stewart Hendry gave a very strong performance.

DotD – For wearing the wrong socks, Ross Bayston.