Hornets’ 90-point demolition of Sidmouth guaranteed the Hutton Moor side promotion to the national league for the first time in their history.

HORNETS 90 pts

SIDMOUTH 10 pts

A LARGE crowd turned up at The Nest to see Hornets blow Sidmouth away in a 16-try exhibition of 15-man rugby and at the same time be crowned champions of South West One and bring National League rugby to the club for the first time in their 52-year history.

Hornets kicked off and were out of the blocks quickly. Francis collected the kick and powered his way through the initial tacklers. The ball was offloaded to Kent who barged his way towards the line. The recycle was moved to Francis, who touched down for the opening score.

Hornets were immediately back on the attack again. Hogarth went on a typically aggressive run into the heart of the Sidmouth defence. A penalty was awarded and Letherby kicked to touch. The forwards won a clean line-out, set a maul and drove over, with Chase at the back of the maul touching down.

A third try from the third attack looked on, but the Sidmouth winger intercepted in his own 22 and touched down for a converted try. Hornets hit back when a scrum was won against the head and Parker collected off the back and surged at the defenders.

Jack Gadd was released and he quickly moved the ball to Cornish who scored under the posts. Jones converted for a 17-7 lead. Sidmouth brought the score back to 17-10 with a penalty.

After that, Hornets were able to drive home their dominance in all areas of play. Further first-half tries followed for Chase (2), Cornish and Carter. Jones converted two efforts to lead 41-10 at the break.

The second half saw Hornets pick up where they left off. Cornish completed his hat-trick and Francis quickly added his second try to make the score 53-10

Harry Simmonds came on for his first appearance of the season and was soon into the action. Kent burst from a scrum and set Carter free, he made good ground and offloaded to Parker to score try number 10.

The Sidmouth defence which had battled admirable all afternoon was now under massive pressure. Jones was next to make his mark, surging down the middle and offloading to Carter to score his second. Letherby converted for 65-10.

Another Simmonds break found Jones rampaging through the defence and he found Francis in support and after good work from Elliot, he was set clear to complete his own hat-trick.

The personal try scoring competition was hotting up and Chase surged ahead when scoring his fourth try of the afternoon. The next try came from a Hogarth break. He found Joe Gadd in support who strode clear from halfway to score and make the score 80-10.

Carter added his fourth and Cornish rounded things off with his own hat-trick try to round off an impressive season and make the final score 90-10.

Special mention must be given to the coaching team of Chase, Gadd and Scott, skipper Kent who has led from the front throughout and particular mention should be reserved for chairman Paul Davidson who has provided a massive support for the 1st team squad through the last two successful seasons, which have now seen back to back promotions.

Looking to the future, next season will see National League rugby come to The Nest for the first time in the club’s history. Many long term members of the club, including many of the founding members, will see the highlight on this achievement being the opportunity to play league rugby against local rivals Weston for the first time ever. Weston can be sure of a warm welcome at The Nest next season.