Combination Plate victory for Hornets

HORNETS Under-14s lifted the Bristol Junior Combination Plate after defeating Thornbury in the final.

Opting to play downhill with the wind behind, Hornets were hoping to put a few points on the board. However, it was evident from the start that Thornbury had other ideas.

Hornets attacked from the kick-off and were unlucky not to score straight away being squeezed into touch just short of the try line.

The breakthrough came from a scrum on halfway, swift handling through the back line and full-back Quentin Querl Joining the line to score an unconverted try in the corner.

Unfortunately Querl was injured and had to leave the field. For the remainder of the half, Thornburys defence stood solid preventing further scores.

With the elements now against them, Hornets’ defence was tested to the full. With the game still in the balance, prop forward Josh Edwards opted to take a quick penalty from deep in his own half,.

He bounced the first couple of would-be tacklers off and got into his full stride to score a superb solo try.

Thornbury threw everything at Hornets for the final 10 minutes, but once again Hornets’ defence was outstanding.

Man of the match goes to the whole squad: Edwards, Frost, Bailey, Johnson, Williams, Browne, Brake, Chenoweth, Lucas, Fairhurst, Durston, Collins, Clarke, Ogbourne, Queral, Cattermole, Swain, Loveridge, Royle, Carpenter and Marsh.

The Under-16s lost 19-0 to Old Bristolians in the cup final, against a side made up of Bristol Academy players.

Constant drives by Hornets’ pack pushed Old Bs deep into their 22, but could not breech a solid defence. Bate was a threat with his long striding runs and was backed up by Richardson and Francis.

A couple times OB’s got out of their half, they were met with solid tackling in midfield by Holyday and Foroughi, while Turner and Constable made good ground.

Some of Hornets’ defence was magnificent and a number of players outplayed their opposite number, no more so than Richardson, who was dominant in attack and defence.

After the break, Old Bs defence held out and launched attacks from their own line. A lapse in concentration allowed Old Bs to score. Soon after, an interception and a quick tap penalty saw Old Bs go over again.

Despite being reduced to 14 players, Old Bs kept their heads and scored another try on full-time to make the final score 19-0.

Squad: R Hancock, T Cocking, L Fitzpatrick, J Parkman, B Eades, A Francis, J Richardson (capt), S Bate, B Solomon, B Turner, J Humphris, P Holyday, A Foroughi, J Constable, C Chamberlain, C Tanner, J Entwistle, A Dover, F Dolcezza, K Williams, B Williams, H Taylor, S Coe.

WINSCOMBE Under-16s were triumphant in the Bristol Junior Combination Plate final, running out 40-22 winners against Bristol Saracens in an entertaining match.

Saracens were first on the score sheet with a penalty following a Combe infringement. However, Winscombe soon came back at them with some slick passing moves involving George Harrison and George Marsh, enabling Joe Hartshorne to touch down under the posts.

Winscombe bagged their next try with another display of strong team work, again involving the two Georges. Marsh performed a magnificent one-handed take of the ball and shipped it out to Joe Duran, who drove through the Saracen’s defence to score.

Full-back Pat Merryfield stopped a Saracens attack, before Gabe Stratford almost touched down for Winscombe. Harrison scored a well-deserved try, breaking clear to touch down under the posts.

Winscombe went close to scoring again when Josh Hunt sent Thomas Amer clear, but he unfortunately knocked the ball forward.

Saracens opened the scoring in the second half with a try in the corner. Combe came back at them with a well-worked try by Amer.

Joe Duran was stopped short of the Saracen’s line, before Louis Yallop was also rebuffed by the Saracen’s defence, but Tom Melluish was on hand to touch down.

Saracens hit back with two more tries, but the final score of the game went to Combe as Duran went over for his second of the day to make the final score 40-22.

WESTON Under-12s worked their socks off in defeat against the best side they have faced this season.

Despite the flow of tries going against them, Weston remained resolute throughout and on occasions put Taunton on their back foot. Tom Burge scored Weston’s solitary try in the second half, with Bradley Robinson converting.

Captain Matthew James led from the front, while Isaac Bliss tackled well and Dylan Way at full-back saved several tries.

Star player on his debut was David Oputu-Dawood, whose tackling and running made for an impressive debut.

The Under-7s hosted Taunton and unfortunately for the visitors, they only had one team of six, who had to play both Weston teams - blue and yellow.

The blues went first and Taunton proved to be a hard team to beat, with them getting on the scoresheet first with a fine score, but Weston were soon back at them with Corey Morrissey running across both flanks and scoring on his own to put Weston even.

Twins Oliver and Sam Morgan combined some fine moves with Daisy Crompton to put Weston ahead, with Taunton coming back to equal the score.

The second game was a similar affair as Taunton were running the same team against the yellow team, who were straight on it with Jolly Gaulton running some fine lines, disturbing the defence and Sam Bishop holding a great defence.

Overall, it was a great team experience for both teams and the scores were equal.