Gainsborough All Blacks 22 Horncastle 34.
Gainsborough fielded all available players on Saturday in an effort to find a win that would take them through to the next round of the Lincolnshire Cup competition but unfortunately they were beaten by a better Horncastle team who although they had less position than the home side managed to score some excellent breakaway try’s to lead the game from start to finish.
Gainsborough started well and certainly dominated in the forwards good work by all the pack saw the home side have the bulk of position and to a biased spectator such as myself I thought the pressure would be points and we would win the game.
This was not to be Horncastle scored breakaway tries in the 20th, 35th and 38th minutes of the game and effectively killed off the home sides chances of progressing to the 2nd round. Just as I thought everything was lost Wayne Sendall scored in the 40th minute an excellent try to give the All Blacks a fighting chance for the second half. Half time score being 19 – 5 to Horncastle.
The second half early stages were all Gainsborough and a great escape act did look to be possible Tim Tanner touched down after some excellent forward work to make the score 19 – 10, Gareth Wood crossed the line for a try that was converted by Wayne Sendall to make the score 19 – 17 and it looked like game on. Horncastle came back to extend their lead through a well taken penalty and shortly afterwards scored yet another breakaway try that was converted to extend their lead to 29 – 17. Gainsborough briefly came back into the game with a try from Andre Russell but Horncastle not to be outdone scored yet again to make the final score 34 – 22.
This was an excellent entertaining game, the positives for Gainsborough had to be their two veterans in the back row, Mick Williams and Man of the Match Andy Dean, both worked tirelessly for the whole 80 minutes, Andy Dean’s skills evident throughout the match, superb tackling defensively and excellent attacking play always making the ball available.
Two player suffered injury in this game leaving the club very depleted in terms of player resources, anyone interested in joining this enthusiastic group of rugby players please contact Vernon Goude 01724 334433, or Tony Goude 01724 763825. New and additional players are desperately needed, training is Tuesday nights 6.30 at Castle Hills School, recruitment of additional players is vital if the club is to survive.
