Hornets Under-17s booked a place in the semi-finals of the Bristol Combination Cup after victory over Midsomer Norton.

HORNETS Under-17s booked their place in the Bristol Junior Combination cup semi-final with a convincing win against Midsomer Norton.

Bolstered by the inclusion of several Under-16s, the line-up gelled quickly, and Jack Richardson’s early break set the platform for Jacob Hill to score on six minutes.

The larger visitors’ pack muscled their way back into the game 10 minutes later to take a 7-5 lead. The first-half continued to be competitive, but Hornets regained the lead through Aedan Coleman, converted by Jordan Humphris. A solo effort from Hill two minutes later ensured that the home side took a 17-7 lead into the break.

Hornets looked a little disjointed early in the second half, the result of several half-time changes, and Midsomer Norton drew level with a converted try and a penalty.

A lengthy break for an injury seemed to work in the hosts’ favour, and almost immediately from the restart, Hornets won a scrum against the head. The ball made its way to Hill on the wing, who set full-back Jack Osborne free to score in the corner.

A try made in the Under-16s finally settled the tie, with Bryn Solomon breaking from scrum-half and passing to Thomas Cocking to score, converted by Osborne.

The final 20 minutes saw Hornets soak up anything that could be thrown at them, Oli Coppage and Ash Locker in particular continued to make some big tackles.

Every member of the match day squad got to play a part, and all concerned are looking forward to the semi-final against either North Bristol or Weston.

Burnham-on-Sea u15 5 WsM u15 45

WESTON Under-15s travelled to Burnham with a mixture of debutants, players from the Under-14s and players having to play out of position.

With Mason Cole in the second row and Dan Price on the blind side making their Weston debuts, Weston’s pack got the better of the early exchanges against a much bigger and considerably heavier Burnham eight.

This provided scrum-half Dan Press some quick ball for their backs where centre Jake Middleton took full advantage to score under the posts, converted by Archie Tilsley. Burnham however, hit back to score a fine try of their own.

This kick started Weston, their pack led by skipper Tom Hughes began to dominate, with some powerful runs through Cosmin Bilcirescu. Further first-half tries followed through Middleton and Josh Bloxham, Tilsley adding the extras for a half-time score of 5-21.

The second half saw Weston continue to put some excellent phases together, with tries for Brandon Charlton, a third try from Jake Middleton, Dan Harness and replacement prop George Bamsey. Tilsley added two conversions for a final score of 5-45.

Special mention to the Under-14 lads Dan Harness and Henry Cox, who both did themselves proud and also to Mason Cole and Dan Price who both had great debuts.