Hornets Under-15s defeated Burnham in a close encounter at Hutton Moor.

HORNETS Under-15s entertained Burnham on a blustery morning at Hutton Moor in a game that in recent meetings has gone Burnham’s way.

They started well with Josh Entwhistle, Callum Tanner and Liam Fitzpatrick dominating the scrum, while Ben Eades and Jack Mohide were in control at the line-out, while the back row of Jack Richardson, Alex Francis and Paddy Holyday worked tirelessly at the breakdown.

Spencer Coe opened the scoring down the blindside of a ruck and put Hornets five points up with an unconverted try. Bryn Turner threatened to get away, as did Holyday, while Freddie Dolcezza made ground on the left wing as the first-half ended.

The start of the second period saw Burnham take the lead with a converted try. This stirred the Hornets into action and after a period of pressure on the Burnham line, the ball was moved along the Hornets’ back division to the outstanding Connor Chamberlain to score an unconverted try on debut.

Some outstanding defensive work from Jack Higgins and Chamberlain kept Burnham at bay. Late on, captain Thomas Cocking dived in for the third try to make the final score 15-7.

Good performances came from Keane Williams, Fitzpatrick, Mohide, Richardson, Jim Constable and Turner, but the match of the match went to Chamberlain. The team would like to thank Imran Ashequel, who turned up to help out.

Despite a change of venue, boggy pitches and heavy rain for the last round of games, the Under-8s and Taunton had sufficient numbers to supply three teams each, so nine games in total were played.

Players from all sides showed great running and defending, with Taunton being particularly tenacious in their tagging, which allowed them to turnover and tip the balance in their favour overall in terms of games in their favour.

Players who stood out for Hornets were Alex, Tommy and Oliver R.

The Under-13s hosted local rivals Winscombe and after dominating in all areas, they recorded a 65-0 victory.

Forwards, Seb Woods, Nathan Langdon, Mitch Hawkes, Will Bailey, Jacob Johnson and Harry Williams were superb in the tight with the back row of Owen Brake, Lockie Carver-Cox and Ayden Chenoweth equally good at the breakdown.

This provided a sound platform to let loose the backs, with Quentin Querl scoring a first-half hat-trick, Charlie Fairhurst touched down following a great run by Oscar Browne. Bradley Lucas showed his turn of pace to outstrip the defence for a fine try and Chenoweth scored the final try of the half.

Hornets maintained their structure for most of the second half and the ball was moved extremely well from one side of the pitch to the other.

Tries came from Chenoweth, Langdon, Carver-Cox and Williams. Querl got his fourth of the match, with Rhys Clarke, Luke Collins and Mateo Turvey creating the links between forwards and backs.

A total of 11 tries were scored, with five conversions added by Fairhurst and Lucas. Man of the match was Jacob Johnson. The final word must go to the Winscombe players for showing great character throughout.

The Under-9s enjoyed three games against Taunton. In the first game, Hornets won 4-3, with Ollie, Mason, Max, Harvey, Finn, Adam and Willow all playing well.

The second game saw Harry, Cooper, Cam, Louis, Taylor, Tino and Adam all giving good performances, despite losing 6-2.

Game three saw Dan, Toby, Archie, Hayden, Lucas, Jack, Cayden and Kay all show promise, with some strong individual displays as Taunton won 8-0.

The Under-14s travelled to Nailsea with five regulars unavailable, giving a chance for new players to get a run out.

The forwards took the game to Nailsea and dominated early on. A dropped ball was picked up by Nailsea and they opened the scoring, followed by two more to lead 19-0 at the break.

In the second half, Hornets scored from a back row move involving Jordan and Nick Hitchins, for Tyler Hayes to touch down, converted by Tom Bailey.

Hornets scored another try by Hitchins, but Nailsea finished strongly with two more tries to make the final score 33-12.

Man of the match went to Bailey Hill.

WESTON Under-11s lost 25-10 to Clevedon in difficult conditions.

Clevedon scored three tries in the first-half, outflanking Weston as players left their positions. The third was a charge down as Dylan desperately tried to clear from his own try line.

Weston responded with two tries by Bradley Robinson, the pick was Dylan’s offload for Robinson to score.

Turning round, Weston had the wind in their faces and struggled in the conditions. Clevedon closed the game out by passing the ball along their line for their winger to run in unopposed.

The star player award for Weston went to Matthew James.