Hornets defeat Bristol Harlequins in an exciting encounter to keep their unbeaten record.

HORNETS welcomed Bristol Harlequins to Hutton Moor for their latest Western Counties North and were triumphant in an exciting end-to-end match.

The game started with Hornets in the ascendancy and within minutes had their first opportunity when Sam Lloyd-Jones’ penalty was just wide. had a kick at goal following the Quins pack being caught offside at the ruck. The visitors responded by spending several phases on the Hornets line before eventually crossing for a converted try.

Hornets fought back from the restart. Awarded a penalty, they opted to kick to the corner and a break by Kirk Middlemiss from the line-out saw him pass to Ross Cheeseborough to score. Lloyd-Jones added the extras.

He was followed soon after by Chris Disney who crashed through in trademark style from a tap penalty five metres out. A further score arrived when Jermaine Jones finished off several phases of play by touching down in the corner for a 17-7 lead. Harlequin’s woes were worsened shortly later as they lost their No 8 to the sin bin.

With Hornets continuing to attack, the first of the tries gifted to Quins came about as their winger intercepted a pass to race the length of the pitch to score under the posts to make the half-time score 17-14 to Hornets.

After the break, Harlequins took the lead when their winger dived over the line between a static defence. Their lead was short lived as Matt Parker took the ball from the back of a line-out drive and scored the bonus point try for the hosts.

To make matters worse for Quins, they lost their second player to the sin bin. Hornets took advantage when Greg Speller crossed in the corner.

Quins continued to compete and with a second interception try gifted to them, they were again leading, this time by 27-28.

The discipline for the away team was to prove their downfall. With the reintroduction of their prop, they lost their third player to a yellow card. They were rewarded when Sean Kent and Lloyd-Jones scored tries. The latter added one conversion and Hornets led 39-28.

There was to be one final twist as a fourth yellow card for Quins, ended in a red card as the player chose to talk back to the referee. From the penalty, the ball was spun wide for Alan Weller to finish the scoring.

There is much to improve before they take on Burnham next week, a side who have started the season in good form.

Although Hornets maintained their excellent discipline there were several mistakes and loose elements to their game that will need to be worked on during the week. Kick-off next week is 3pm at the Burnham Association of Sports Ground, Stoddens Lane.