Clevedon Under-14s reached the semi-final of the county cup after a excellent victory over Hornets.

A SUPERBLY committed performance from every member of Clevedon Under-14s led to a narrow victory against Hornets and a place in the semi-finals of the county cup.

Clevedon started strongly playing against the wind and notched an early try with Dane Richardson showing great strength and sprinting over in the far corner. Hornets responded with a well-worked try and on the stroke of half-time, a carbon copy effort from Richardson restored the home side’s five-point advantage.

After the break, fine inter-play took Clevedon deep inside the Hornets half, a line break took them within metres of a score and some unselfish passing released Jamie Sandy to extend the lead to 15-5.

Hornets hit back again with another try with five minutes to go, but Clevedon showed their growing maturity by ensuring that the rest of the game was played out in Hornets.

Their semi-final opponents will be North Petherton at some point during February, details to be confirmed.

Coach John McGuigan said: “I am very proud of the boys today. It was a fantastic effort from the squad and not just those that played. We’re now in the final four of the county and that’s a great achievement.”

Having previously lost two consecutive matches, the Under-16s were looking to secure a home win against Nailsea & Backwell, having beaten them in the away fixture at the start of the season.

Clevedon got off to a great start with a try from Brent Manners to open the scoring. However, a highly-competitive Nailsea & Backwell side replied with a converted try to take an early lead.

The Clevedon forwards produced some great phases of play, with strong ball carrying. This created a platform for the Clevedon backs. Mason Parslow ran in to score a try under the posts, which was converted by Ben Thole.

This was followed shortly by Sam Poulter sliding in to touch down following a chip by Thole. Rami James scored the fourth try to give Clevedon a 22-7 half-time lead.

Clevedon continued to apply the pressure at the start of the second half with tries from Poulter and Jake Perry, both converted by Thole. Nailsea & Backwell continued to compete and replied with two converted tries of their own to reduce Clevedon’s lead to 36-21.

Clevedon sealed the game with Thole picking up a loose ball to score a try following up a long kick. It was a great team performance from both forwards and backs with Rami James picking up the man of the match award.

Nailsea & Backwell provided strong competition throughout the match, but Clevedon eventually finished 41-21 winners.

IN A TOUGH game where the advantage swung to and fro, Gordano Under-16s and St Brendans displayed speed and tenacity, although ball handling was erratic in the cold conditions.

Gordano managed to pull out a two try lead, but were pegged back at the end of the first-half and with 30 minutes to go, it was all square again. The Sharks pack dominated set play and a drive by prop Dan Swaby settled the match after which Saints’ repeated attacks were repelled by some great defensive work.

Scorers - Saints tries: Will Brown, Ben Onyahasi, George Curnock. Conversion: Curnock. Sharks tries: Jamie Whitfield (3), Dan Swaby. Conversions: Alex Walder (2).

IN THE interest of keeping everyone playing to avoid freezing on the touchline, Gordano lent Yatton Under-11s a couple of players, so it was possible to play two games at the same time.

In game one, Yatton were slow to start and Gordano took full advantage with a half-time lead of 6-1. In the second half, Yatton came to life and the final result was still with Gordano, but it ended a respectable 8-6.

Over in game two, it was a similar tale. Yatton struggled to hold Gordano in the first-half, going down 5-0, but again played much more strongly after the break and the game finished 7-3.

After the change it was almost like watching a reversal. Game three saw Yatton start strongly, taking the lead early on. After that it was a tremendous tussle to the break where the scores stood at 2-2.

The second half saw Gordano finish much more strongly. Tired legs meant missed tackles and not nearly the same amount of aggression in the contact, so Gordano took the match 7-3.

Game four saw Yatton struggle throughout to contain Gordano. Too often Yatton allowed their opponents time and space to run at them and they made the most of it. At half-time they had a 5-2 lead and they took the second half in similar fashion, winning 12-4.

Yatton scorers: Ben Clarke (6), Cammie Waites (3), Caleb Clarke, Cameron Fogg, Connor Kane, Dominic Oliver and Chris Scrivens.

Clevedon Colts can now face the elements in their new training tops courtesy of local firm North Somerset Metal and Cable Recycling. Owner of the firm, Simon Clark, met up with Colts’ manager Nick Wilson, team members Dan Jones and Ollie Wilson.

Simon who supports Clevedon Rugby Club, was kind enough to sponsor the colts, which led to the whole squad benefiting from the new training tops.