Morgan’s superb hat-trick shatters Hereford’s promotion dream
10:23am Friday 2nd May 2008
Hereford 13 pts Hinckley 43.
A SECOND-half hat-trick from 19-year-old Evan Morgan shattered Hereford’s dreams of reaching Midlands 1.
The teenage winger scored three tries in the final 24 minutes to seal a deserved triumph for Hinckley in the Midlands 2 promotion play-off at Wyeside.
Hinckley were outstanding, with a well-drilled defence and a lively back division that caused Hereford problems throughout last Saturday’s clash.
The Leicestershire side scored their first four tries from powerful forward moves which sapped the energy from the Hereford defence.
Hereford made a bright start and a converted try from the experienced Gareth Miles helped the Wyesiders into a 13-5 lead after 17 minutes.
But Hinckley hit back strongly and the Leicestershire side scored 38 unanswered points in the remaining 63 minutes.
A couple of excellent tactical kicks from Rob Collins helped to settle Hereford’s nerves as the match started at a frantic pace.
A well-executed move between skipper Ceiron Griffiths and Collins ended with Ben Hillstead being held up on the Hinckley line in the fifth minute.
Hereford’s pressure paid off and, with Hinckley penalised for being off-side, Jeremy Grisman gave the home side the lead with a 20-metre penalty on seven minutes.
Hinckley responded and scored their first try in the 12th minute when Dave Massarella crashed over after a powerful rolling maul.
But Hereford regained the lead with a second penalty from Grisman in the 15th minute and the majority of the bumper crowd were back on their feet two minutes later.
Another well-directed kick from Collins put Hinckley under pressure and a neat passing move between Liam Herbert and Jeremy Grisman took Hereford to the visitors’ line.
Miles picked up close to the Hinckley line and darted over for the score which Grisman converted to give Hereford a deserved eight-point advantage.
It looked promising for Hereford but their task was not helped when Jeremy Grisman was shown a yellow card for an off-the-ball incident in the 24th minute.
With a numerical advantage, Hinckley chose to run the ball and their backs started to slice open the Hereford defence.
Hinckley broke at speed in the 27th minute and exploited a three-man overlap on the left-hand side which looked like a certain try for John Eke.
However, Herbert charged back and made a superb try-saving tackle on Eke from which he turn the ball over and won a penalty for Hereford.
The Leicestershire side continued to attack and got their second try from another rolling maul in the 31st minute through Ross Cunningham.
Hinckley were now in control and took the lead with a crucial third try – again from a rolling maul – just three minutes before the interval.
Massarella crashed over underneath the posts and full-back Neil Harbour added the extra points to put Hinckley 17-13 in front at the end of an action-packed first half.
There was no let-up in the pace after the break but any hopes of a Hereford comeback receded six minutes into the second half when the visitors scored their fourth try, through Ben Ashfield, after another forwards move.
Harbour extended Hinckley’s lead to 11 points and Hereford needed a quick response to keep their hopes alive.
Hereford’s man-of-the-match Herbert charged down an attempted clearance kick inside the Hinckley 22 but he failed to gather the ball with a clear run in front of him Hereford shipped the ball wide to winger Adam Gwynne in the 49th minute but he was tackled into touch at the right-hand corner flag.
The try-saving tackle on Gwynne was Hereford’s last chance of getting back into the match because Hinckley pressed home their advantage.
With Hereford needing to open up the game, the hosts started to make handling mistakes and seemed to lose their shape.
Morgan raced away to put Hinckley 29-13 in front in the 56th minute and he scored an almost identical try, which Harbour converted, seven minutes later.
Hinckley compounded Hereford’s misery in the first minute of stoppage-time when Morgan completed his treble after another quick break.
He touched down underneath the posts and Harbour added the extras to give Hinckley a victory margin of 30 points.
Hereford’s head of coaching, John Watkins, said: “It was disappointing to lose but it’s not the end of the world and we will bounce back.”