Hornets gained a bonus point victory at Old Patesians in a less than convincing performance.

Old Patesians 19 pts

Hornets 29 pts

Hornets travelled to Old Patesians having been forced into several changes, and despite a less than convincing performance riddled with errors, they took away a useful bonus point win.

The visitors immediately showed their intent by moving the ball and running it back into the opposition half, only for the attack to be stopped.

Both sides spent the next 20 minutes wrestling for territory in the midfield until Adam Francis broke the line and put Robert Dempsey into space. He was dragged down and Sam Balkham was on hand to recycle the ball, only to lose it in the next tackle and Old Pats were able to clear their lines.

It was not until the 28th minute that the breakthrough eventually came. Dave Vivian and Connor Baker made ground before the ball was moved through Gadd to Francis, who put Dempsey through a gap for the opening try.

Five minutes later Courtney Harris stole a line-out and Hornets sucked in the defence and when they moved it wide, Vivian found himself in space and went over unopposed, converted by Jermaine Jones to give Hornets a 12-0 lead with half-time approaching.

However, the game took a twist before the interval was reached and Old Pats ran in two tries on either flank to go into the break with an unlikely 12-14 lead.

Hornets started the second half well and Dan Ogden stole another line-out and Kieran Ward crashed through the line and moved the ball wide where Dempsey was able to dance over for his second try. Jones converted for a 19-14 lead.

On the hour mark, Hornets scored again, Ward cleverly peeled off of a driving maul and fed Matthew Parker, who crashed over in the corner.

Old Pats again struck back before Gadd concluded the scoring with a try that saw him use his reach to stretch over the line when tackled just short.

This gave a final score on 29-19 and a useful bonus point win for Hornets which sees them climb the table one place to fifth and close the gap on the third-placed team to just two points.

On Saturday, Hornets travel to North Petherton for the semi-final of the Somerset Cup. The game will now have an added incentive as a win will set up a cup final against local rivals Weston.