Luctonians RFC 49 - 5 Hornets RFC

The Hornets were on the receiving end of a heavy 49-5 defeat away to second place Luctonians RFC this weekend.

The Weston side were returning to action after a narrow loss in an electrifying 72-point game against Old Redcliffians and would’ve been hoping to take some of that scoring momentum into the fixture against Luctonians who had lost their last three in a row.

The home team were always the favourites though and the 38-point gap between the two squads in the table was quickly demonstrated as William Hodnett went over the line to open up the scoring for Luctonians in the fifth minute.

Hornets gathered themselves and defended well, holding out until the 22nd minute when a Luctonian's line out was maul was illegally brought down in the red zone by Sam Taylor, conceding both a penalty try and a yellow card to make the game 14-0 and leave the Hornets a man down.

The reduction in men was followed almost immediately by another cautioning for the Hornets only seven minutes later, this time a yellow was shown to Adam Francis for a technical infringement, and the game was quickly moved out of the reach of the Hornets.

Luctonians took full advantage of their two extra men on the field and scored through Ben Link, the try happily converted by Thomas Jones who didn’t miss all day, ending the half at 21-0 up.

The Hornets replied were buzzing at the restart and replied lightning fast in the second half.

Josh Sheppard broke through the Luctonian's defence and offloaded a great pass to set up an Ayden Chenoworth try in the 41st minute, which offered The Hornets a glimmer of hope for a few minutes, but the missed opportunity for points from the conversion proved all too symbolic.

The home side soon took control of the match again and were looking every bit as good as their top two position in the league indicates.

Converted tries from Ben Link in the 53rd, Charlie Grimes in the 57th, Mark Roberts in the 64th, and William Hodnett finishing off the game as he started it with a try meant Luctonians ended 49-5 victors over the Hornets.

This was Ben Link's 23rd try of the season in his 23rd game, an impressive return for the Luctonian hooker.

Hornets coach Courtney Harris said after the game: "We were outplayed and out-muscled by a very good Luctonians outfit who are the best side in the league and deserve to go up.”

The Hornets are now 11th in the table with 56 points and are next in action against Bournville, the team one place and only three points below them, making it a must win at The Nest on April 13th.