Hornets defeat Nailsea & Backwell in the cup

HORNETS Under-16s travelled to local rivals Nailsea & Backwell in the first round of the Combination Cup.

Playing up the slope in the first-half, Hornets were dominant from the whistle. Tanner, Cocking and Entwistle were keeping the scrum firm and Parkman and Eades were constantly getting possession to surge up field.

Line-outs were steady and Francis and Richardson gave multiple options and Bate was in charge at the front, but right on half-time, a lapse by Hornets saw Nailsea take the lead with a try.

In the second half, Humphris kept Nailsea turning with monster kicks which put enormous pressure on the home side. Good play by Holyday and Blake Williams forced a mistake and Bate scored from the resulting scrum to bring the teams level.

Fine play by Turner and Chamberlain forced a mistake and Solomon was able to touch down. Soon after, Holyday went over, with both tries converted by Humpris.

Mohide and Dover made inroads deep into Nailsea’s half and good work by Bate, Solomon and Cocking saw Humphris scorch over under the posts and then convert his own try, before Nailsea replied with a consolation try to make the final score 26-10 to Hornets.

The Under-13s hosted St Marys Old Boys from Bristol for only their second game this season.

Hornets’ lack of match practice showed as they simply got hammered 13 tries to one. The first-half saw many missed tackles and the boys all seemed to follow the ball. St Marys also had the benefit of using many replacements whereas Hornets did not have any on the bench.

The second half was much better with more play in the St Marys half. Reeve Bailey and George Flack put in some good tackles and Hornets’ only try came when Sam Hughes scored in the corner, Lawrence Pilgrim’s conversion effort fell just short.

After Tor pulled out of what original was supposed to be a three-way fixture, it left Hornets Under-9s and Weston to play for bragging rights in the playground, as school friends lined up against each other.

Hornets got off to a flying start in game one, with Weston struggling to contain the runners in a game that was mainly one-way traffic.

Game two was between the two Hornets’ sides as the large squad played between themselves to get some game time.

Weston returned to the field in game three and restored the balance by taking advantage of Hornets failure to stay calm in the offload, with some loose passing and a lack of cohesion as Hornets made changes en-masse.

The Colts returned to league action with a hard-fought win at Gordano Sharks in this M5 derby.

With eight players still sidelined through injury, 11 of the starting line-up were from the Under-17 age group and they equipped themselves well.

The only score in a competitive first-half came on 24 minutes after Billy Phillips’ yellow card had reduced Hornets numbers to 1, and Gordano held their 7-0 lead to the break.

Four half-time substitutions turned the game for the visitors and almost immediately Pavilion Beefeater man of the match Byron Marriott fed Jacob Hill, who was adjudged to have just been in touch before grounding the ball. From the resulting line-out, Gordano conceded a free kick and after Ash Locker and Dave Grubb were held up, Billy Phillips powered over for a try.

Another scrum saw Mike Long, Aedan Coleman and Aaron Fry combine to feed Jack Osborne to outstrip the Gordano defence to score under the posts, before kicking the conversion.

From then on, despite not adding to the score, the Colts looked comfortable and were good value for their victory.

WESTON Under-8s made the short trip to neighbours Hornets and came away with a share of the spoils.

The Weston Blue team fared the better of the two sides, winning both of their games. In their first game, Leon Beard led from the front, taking on the opposition with his pace, ably supported by wing-man Sam Goodare, who chipped in a couple of tries alongside Leon’s quartet.

Jayden Hood was strong in defence and Greg Cunnington was excellent in his tagging and contributed with two of his own tries, to help win the game 9-6.

In the second game, the Blues outpaced their opponents with great support play from Harvey Mount and Thomas Withers and a powerful all-round performance from Jack Hobbs.

But it was again Beard and Hood who bossed the game, scoring from all over the pitch with pace that will terrify teams throughout the season, contributing to a 10-8 victory.

The Red team however, did not fare quite so well, despite showing great team work and the better passing moves.

Fyn Simpson was inspired in defence, alongside Ollie Dadds who chased all day and was central to most of the great passing moves of the side. Roo Becket supported well and was rewarded with two good tries, while an ailing Jack Groom was still able to score from halfway.

Dominic Hawkins demonstrated some powerful running to score his try. However, it was not quite enough in the first game, with the Weston Reds going down 6-8.

In the second game, it was nip and tuck throughout, with JJ Weall leading the tag count, and Beckett and Tommy Crane in close contention. Joshua Sparks maintained his great introduction to the game, especially in defence. This time, with six different scorers reflecting the way in which the team is already gelling, the Reds were able to come away with a commendable 8-8 draw

The Under-13s hosted North Petherton in a high-scoring game that saw Weston run out comfortable winners with a 53-12 final score.

Back to their early season form, it was Weston who scored early on with a try from Lewis Paterson, followed up by the first of his four conversions. The forwards dominated the play, driven forward by Marshall Hobbs and Brooke Chamberlain, both missing in last week’s defeat, to form a formidable Weston pack.

With scrum-half Tom Biggs endlessly feeding the ball out, the Weston backs ran riot. Kyron Pearce powered through for two tries and Paterson scored his second before forward Dan Meadon added another.

Dom Marshall carved out endless opportunities as they piled on the pressure and was rewarded with four tries. Despite North Petherton were rewarded with a consolation try in the last minute. Man of the match went to Marshall Hobbs.

The Under-11s made the short journey to play two games against Hornets. Weston started well and took the lead with a strong run and finish from Tom, soon followed by a try for Robbie.

Hornets dug deep and started to fight back, but Tabassum won the ball for Weston deep in her own half and sprinted the length of the field to score a fantastic try.

After the break, Weston thought they had the game won, but Hornets had other ideas and came out fighting and scored three tries to draw the match.

Weston seemed to be punch drunk in the second game and Hornets were rewarded with a try. Weston hit back with some great work from Ollie, George and Sam, but again Weston’s defence crumbled and Hornets scored again.

Weston hit back through Josh with a strong run and it was left to player of the match Tabassum to score another fantastic try.

The Under-10s visited Hornets and both sides got off to a great start with every single player making every tackle count. Luca continued to play the scrum-half role well, but Hornets were the first to score just before half-time to go in to the break at 1-0.

Both sides made changes and Weston were the side to come out on top with a bit more open play. It was still close, but Weston ran in three tries in the second half with scores from Ryan, George and captain Will Flavin to win 3-1.

In the second match, changes were made to the line-up to give everyone a game. Hornets were the stronger side in the first-half and ran in five tries to 0.

In the second half, it was a different game and Weston came back strongly and there were scores from Kieran (2) and one for Jacob, Will Crane and Harry, who scored his first try for Weston. The match ended in a well-draw at five tries each.