— Josh Clark contributed with this report.
The University of Lincoln rugby union first team kicked off their season in emphatic fashion with a well-worked away victory over Birmingham City University.
With fantastic conditions to play in, expectations were high as the team took to the field. However, Lincoln went behind early on with Birmingham City scoring a try just after kick off.
The away team soon hit back though, replying with two tries from hooker Dominic Hodge and a penalty kick, leaving the score at 15-7 at the break.
With confidence high, players retook to the field and looked to build on what had been a promising first half. The Lincoln backline were dominating the opposition, but the forwards were struggling to impose themselves as much, with the penalty count ever climbing after some unnecessary errors.
Birmingham City fought back with another try, but Lincoln replied with two more through good work in the forwards. Joshua Clark drove over before Dominic Hodge capped off an impressive hat-trick of tries.
A late surge from Birmingham led to another score, but a solo try from winger Jared Risley-Jones killed off the game to give a hard working Lincoln team a deserved victory.
The game ended 32-17 with Dominic Hodge receiving the man of the match award for his three tries. A victory in the first game of the season will leave the team with confidence and set down a marker to progress through the season and seek promotion to tier one of the BUCS rugby union league.