LINCOLN IMPS/3RD XV 69
BOSTON 2ND XV 12
BY JOSEPH VERNEY
Henry McCartney crossed for a hat-trick of tries on his senior debut as a combined Lincoln Imps and 3rd XV claimed an emphatic 69-12 against a battling Boston side.
Jack Randell, George Sutcliffe and Ollie Jones also marked their debuts with tries, with Mitch Ashworth, Michael Tunnicliffe, Grant Laws, James Johnson and Chris Smith also getting their names on the scoresheet.
Brothers Luke and Alex Brodrick, along with Randell, converted seven tries between them.
Leon Stobart and John Hummel scored Boston’s tries, with Ethan English adding one conversion.
Lincoln opened the scoring when McCartney, who has progressed through the youth ranks at the club, ran in for a try.
The hosts increased their lead when a well-worked move through the hands set up Jones to go over for a try.
Boston tried to hit back with their captain Luke Fowler crossing the try line, but it was pulled back for double movement. The visitors still had their penalty advantage and from a tap and go Stobart then picked the ball up and went over for a try, reducing Lincoln’s lead to 14-5 going in at the break.
Lincoln upped the tempo in the second half and crossed for a further nine tries, starting with a second for McCartney who ran a great to score after being set up by Ashworth.
Provider then turned scorer as Ashworth took advantage of a quick tap and caught Boston off guard to go under the posts for a try.
McCartney then ran in for a try to complete his hat-trick on a day when several of the club’s youngsters made impressive debuts.
Lincoln were soon in again after a Boston knock-on gave them good field position just 10 metres out from the try line. A move through the hands then saw a pass out wide to Tunnicliffe, who ran in for a try in the corner.
Captain Luke Brodrick made a great break up upfield before stepping a player and offloading to Randell, who ran in to score a try which he also converted.
Grant Laws made an almost instant impact after coming off the bench for Lincoln. From the back of a ruck Ashworth popped the ball blind side and Laws powered through two defenders before spinning past another two.
Laws was tackled near the line, but managed to reach out to put the ball down for a try. However, minutes later he received a yellow card and was sent to the sin bin for an alleged high tackle.
George Sutcliffe marked his debut with a try before hooker James Johnson grabbed Lincoln’s 10th. Maksim Bajunov caught the ball from the kick-off and ran 60 metres through several defenders before offloading to Johnson.
Johnson offloaded to John Neville, who also enjoyed an impressive debut but was unfortunately stopped just five metres out from the try line. From the base of the ruck, Ashworth then popped the ball out to Johnson, who powered through two defenders to dive over for a try.
Boston refused to give up and, after being awarded a free-kick in front of the posts, they produced a good move through the hands as Ethan English set up centre John Hummel to run in for a try. English added the extras.
Lincoln completed the scoring after another excellent run by Bajunov set up Johnson, who produced a looping pass over a Boston player to Neville. Neville gained another 10 metres before offloading back to Johnson, who drew in the last defender and set up Smith for a try in the corner.
POST MATCH COMMENTS
Lincoln Imps XV captain Luke Brodrick was proud of his side’s efforts against a gutsy Boston side.
He said: “It was great to have rugby back and to win the way we did was brilliant. We were slow to get going, but we soon kicked into gear.
“Boston made it tough at times for us and the shift the boys put in from kick-off to the final whistle was second to none. It was a very good win for the boys.”
Boston captain Luke Fowler said: “It was a good game and good to get the cobwebs out. Credit to Lincoln, they are a class outfit, they are two leagues above us and proved why.
“We walked into not knowing what the new rules were and not having trained them, so it’s credit to our boys for picking them up as quickly as we did.
“I felt we were strong in two quarters, but unfortunately the other two quarters were against us in terms of fatigue and numbers.
“We’ve got lots to build on and to learn and it’s good that rugby is back because everyone came off the pitch with a smiling face, which is the main thing.”
