Hornets are just two points behind leaders St Austell after a convincing victory over Wadebridge.

HORNETS 55 pts

WADEBRIDGE 12pts

WITH the sun shining at The Nest, the Hornets fans were treated to a feast of attacking rugby which saw the home side dominate their Cornish visitors.

However, the day did not start well and the Wadebridge pack took possession from the kick-off. They rumbled forward and their scrum-half darted through and offloaded to a support runner who crashed over for an early try.

Hornets started to gain the upper hand and a line-out led to the pack setting up a driving maul and rumbling from the halfway line to just short of the try line. Just as a try looked certain, the Wadebridge defence disrupted the maul, which almost led to a breakaway by Wadebridge.

The next scrum saw the Hornets pack turn the screw again. The front row of Chase, Kent and Haines were looking increasingly dominant. A penalty resulted and this time a maul set up from the line-out rampaged over the line for Chase to register Hornets first try.

Almost immediately, the forwards won a scrum against the head. The turnover ball was quickly moved through the backs and Jones crashed over to score. He duly converted for a 12-5 lead.

From the restart, Kinchant collected confidently, made ground and released Jack Gadd. He made ground and offloaded to Jones who made 30 yards before being illegally dragged down.

The penalty led to a scrum and this time the pack kept it tight with Parker controlling the ball at the base until a penalty try was awarded.

The restart led to another Hornets attack, with Bradley opening up a gap with a darting run, offloading to Kent who immediately moved the ball to Parker, who crashed through under the posts to collect the bonus point.

There was still time for a further score before half-time and it was the backs who got in on the act. A penalty led to another clean line-out and this time the backs were released. Jones again crashed through the defence and released Bradley, who coasted over to give a 31-5 half-time lead.

After the break, Hornets were keen to press on and it was again the forwards who were impressing most. Francis carried on from where he left off the previous week with a serious of explosive runs to back up his work in defence.

Haines punched holes in the defence on a regular basis, eventually crashing over for a try. Hogarth too was causing trouble in the loose and but for a couple of spilt passes, would have extended the lead himself.

Following the Haines try, Hornets attacked again from the restart. Parker collected and again released Haines. When eventually stopped, he was able to offload to Bradley who made good ground before neatly putting Carter through to score.

The next attack saw Bradley surge through a gap and score his second and then a further attack saw Hogarth juggle the ball before crashing over to touch down. Letherby converted the final try.

Wadebridge registered a consolation try at the end, but the final score of 55-12 reflected an excellent afternoon’s work for Hornets.

With Cleve slipping up at North Petherton, Hornets climb into second place only two points behind St Austell at the top and with a game in hand. They have a week off, before a difficult away trip to Bridgwater.