Hornets Rugby Club celebrated a hugely successful season with over 200 people attending the end of season dinner and awards evening.

OVER 200 people crammed into the specially erected marquee at Hornets for the end of season dinner and awards evening.

They were all in good spirits and there to celebrate what most think is the club’s most successful season ever.

As well as the progress made off the season with the opening of the impressive new extension at the club, and the two massive crowds that watched Hornets and Weston play out their first ever league fixtures, all the Hornets sides had great seasons on the pitch.

The Development team and the Colts both won their respective leagues, the third team came a close second in their league and the first team finishing sixth in the fifth tier of English rugby in their first season in the National League.

The first team went on to crown a great season for the club by winning the Somerset Cup.

After a tremendous dinner served up by John Brennan and his team, Dave Jones kicked off the presentations by summarising what a great season that the third team had, just missing out on promotion.

Third team player of the year was awarded to Brad Ashfield and player of the year to Simon Owens.

Next up was Jon Richardson, fresh from a successful season as coach of the Development XV. Jon gave a humorous speech (at least he thought so) which highlighted the great potential of the club.

Jon gave a resume of the season highlighting that the Development XI won 25 of their 26 league games and scoring over 1,300 points, a staggering 962 more than they conceded.

John also stressed how young the side was and how they had successfully pushed through a significant number of players to the First XV.

The awards were popular with everyone in the room with Dave Vivian being awarded player of the year and Dexter Nettleton players’ player.

The Colts awards were made next. Ian Long, the long-term coach of the age group which made up most of this year’s Colts side spoke of his pride in the squad and how against expectations the squad had performed tremendously to win their league.

The awards went to Danny Bailey for players’ player and the player of the year award was given to Matt Cates. Both awards were well received in the room. As both players had made their 1st XV debuts during the season, the future of the club should be in good hands.

The 1st XV awards came next. First up was Alec Chase who announced that he was moving on from his role a first team coach. He made a coaches’ award, one that he has introduced since joining the club, and which he awarded to Georgian, Ramaz Rukhadze, for his dedicated approach and hard work since joining the club last summer.

First team skipper Chris Francis took over and gave a brief summary of the season, which all agreed had been very successful.

The players’ player award, was made to Phil Hogarth, a legend on the club who has played over 300 time for the first team and is adamant he is now retired.

The much revered player of the year was awarded to Chris’s brother Adam Francis. Adam has been almost ever present in the side during the season, and while injuries meant the side were missing some of their more experienced back line, Adam stepped up and frequently showed maturity, consistency and composure beyond his years.

Having made all the playing awards, chairman Paul Davidson stepped up to make the final awards of the season. First the president’s award was made to Mick Baker for his tireless work on the grounds, which has seen him keep the pitch in top condition throughout the season.

The top award of the season was made to a man who has put in countless hours on the coaching field throughout the season, not to mention previous seasons, both for the development squad where he is the head coach and for the first team, who he coaches twice a week in support of coaches, Alec Chase and Jack Gadd, and for the Under-16s, who he coaches on a Sunday. The Clubman of the Year was awarded to Jon Richardson.