Hornets RFC

Hornets travelled to Scotland Lane and the home of Old Redcliffians in their latest National League 2 West match and in an extraordinary game came away with a 5 point victory and cemented their place in 7th position in the League. 

Along with that, recorded their third double of the season, having beaten Bournville, Exeter University and now Old Reds both home and away.

As always with this local derby fixture it comes down to fine margins and last gasp efforts which can tip a game either way and the boot of Luke McMullan in the eighth minute of injury time to clinch the win was the difference in this one.

In brilliant spring sunshine and after winning the toss the visitors chose to play up the infamous slope in the first half. Straight out of the blocks came Reds and a penalty kick in front of the posts in the 3rd minute to go 3 up.

With some familiar faces playing in the opposition team Hornets started to get a foothold on the game and took the ball deep into Reds’ half and a penalty and kick to the corner set up an opportunity to score from the lineout and great control allowed Joachim Hullah to score and Jordan Humphris slotted the conversion and Hornets edged in front 3-7.

Again, and enjoying the conditions Hornets put pressure on Reds and storming runs by Chris Francis and Sonny Haines had Reds backpedaling and the pressure resulted in points when Chris Francis  went over the whitewash and another fine conversion by Humphris and the lead extended.3-14.

With the slope Old Reds attacked as you would expect them to at speed and accuracy and in a flash had scored 2 tries, one of which was converted and the other just fell under the bar which was to prove to be vital and Old Reds went into the break up 15-14.

Now with the slope Hornets would have been keen to start their running game but Reds had other ideas and set about playing the rugby their supporters were expecting. Hornets had a few chances but solid defence kept them out. As a reward for their defensive efforts Reds cruised to another 2 well taken converted tries and with only 8 minutes left on the clock the game looked over and even a couple of Hornets supporters decided the game was done and left early ( big mistake 🤣) 29-14.

Hornets emptied the remainder of the bench all of which contributed massively to the efforts and upped the intensity and the accuracy came.

Firstly, following a mix up by the Reds defence McMullan  strolled through untouched under the posts and converted. 29-21.

From the restart  and more pressure, Reds seemed to be dazzled in the headlights as the visitors scored another by the electric winger Josh Sheppard and McMullan put over his conversion which put  Hornets 1 point behind.29-28.

With only seconds left and just beyond the 10m line a high tackle by a tired home defence and a penalty, but was it kickable ? 

Courtney Harris sauntered over to the mark considering whether the kick for the corner or a difficult kick at goal, he used all his experience in deciding they would have a shot at goal and gave the ball to McMullan who calmly slotted the ball over and the comeback was complete as the ref blew for full time . Final Score Old Reds 29 Hornets31.

This was one of those games that doesn’t come along very often and showed off all the local talent as both sides gave everything,  never give up was the watchword from Hornets and how that was true.

Hornets now sit 7th and on 57 points and are only 1 point behind their total points for last season and with 6 games left are looking forward to Luctonians coming to the Nest next week. 

If you are looking for an entertaining game of rugby and value for your entry fee there is no better team to watch at the moment locally than the current young Hornets team kick off 3pm.