Hornets Under-14s lost their Bristol Combination Cup match against Avon by 31-17.

HORNETS Under-14s took the journey to Bath to play Avon in the Bristol Combination Cup, but lost a hard-fought game 31-17.

A scrum on Hornets’ 22 was well heeled by Cocking, assisted by his props Vearncombe and Fitzpatrick. Solomon picked up and went on a typical strong run and scored a great individual try, converted by Humphris. Avon hit back and their strong running No 8 helped himself to a couple of tries before half-time to make it 14-7.

Despite the constant onslaught Hornets defended superbly. Eventually Avon forced their way in again for two more tries. Hornets replied with strong runs by Dover, Richardson and Eades. Another solid scrum inside Avon’s 22 and Holyday was at hand to force his way over.

From the kick-off, Hornets applied more pressure and Holyday again found himself in space, but was superbly tackled short of the line. Robinson was on hand to surge over the line.

Despite disruption with injuries, Avon managed to score again to make the game safe.

The Under-7s took the short trip to Bridgwater & Albion with 20 players, which allowed the squad to field five teams with Bridgwater contributing another three.

Across all the pitches and games, good defensive lines and tagging from defending teams meant the attacking sides need to display excellent handling and running to keep the scores ticking over. All the games were close and end-to-end affairs.

The Under-11s travelled to Bridgwater only to find the home side did not have a side. A back-up plan was quickly arranged and they agreed to play North Petherton in two games.

In the first game, Hornets proved too strong and at half-time Hornets led 6-0 and won 8-1, having taken their foot off the gas slightly.

In the second game, Hornets had most of the possession with Milly Bamfield showing some of her team-mates how to tackle. Lloyd Chudley was always in the thick of things and Sol Midgley enjoyed his first spell in the line-outs, but Hornets were too good and ran out 5-0 winners.

There were eight different try scorers over the two games which showed Hornets spread the ball well. The solo try scorers were Alex, Lawrence and Reef, with two tries each for Sam, Harry, Tom Read, Keelan and Tim.

The Under-12s made the short trip to Bridgwater. It was 15 minutes before Ayden Chenoweth opened the scoring and this heralded a further two tries from him to complete his hat-trick before the end of the second quarter. Bradley Lucas also added his name to the score sheet to make the half-time score 4-1.

The third period saw Nathan Langdon have a try disallowed and Owen Brake suffered from a high tackle.

Special mentions should go to Amy and Quentin who both had great games, as did Lockie and the rest of the pack against much larger opponents.

The Under-8s travelled to Bridgwater and took 17 players. Unfortunately, Bridgwater could only field one team, so the coaches had a tough time rotating players.

The first game saw Bridgwater field a strong team which included some quick and elusive players. Hornets’ defence struggled to contain Bridgwater and they went behind early in the half, but they fought their way into the game and the half ended 4-4.

The second half saw some good attacking with further glimpses of the new passing game. A range of players touched down to secure a game win of 8-7.

Scorers: Harry (2), Louis, Greg, Finley, Max, Dan and Harvey.

In the second game, Bridgwater came out all guns blazing and quickly notched up three early tries. Hornets fought back, but ended the half 5-2 down.

The second half was more evenly contested with a few moments of fine attacking play from Hornets, but they were unable to close down the Bridgwater attack and the game ended 8-5 to Bridgwater.

Scorers: Harry, Haydn, Harvey, Finley and Max.

In the third game, Hornets started slowly and found themselves down 4-1 at half-time. The second half saw some lovely individual runs and determined drives for the try line, but despite a great effort, Hornets ended up on the wrong side of a 7-6 final score.

Scorers were Mason, Willow (2), Adam and Oliver (2). After the game, the coaches awarded Harry and Willow the Harry the Hornet award.

The full squad: Haydn, Willow, Louis, Finley, Max, Dan, Oliver, Harry, Owen, Mason, Cameron, William, Lucas, Greg, Luke, Adam and Harvey.

The Under-13s travelled to Bristol Saracens for their first cup match of the season, but Saracens were unable to field a full team giving Hornets the victory before play had begun.

The match was played as a friendly with Hornets lending Saracens a couple of players. Against the run of play, Saracens opened the scoring and quickly got a second. Hornets replied with tries from man of the match Nick Hitchins, who excelled throughout the game and Jake Middleton, leaving the score 12-10 to Saracens at half-time.

The second half was a scrappy affair with Saracens having a player yellow carded for consistent high tackling. Saracens ran in three second half tries, but Hornets could only manage one try with Middleton getting his second.

Special mention for George Sneddon-Coombes and Ed Mann.

WINSCOMBE Under-14s made the short journey up the M5 to Gordano for their first round match in the BJC Cup.

The visitors were determined not to let Gordano in for an early score and great defensive work from Gabe Bell and Rory Hancock helped relieve the pressure. The first try came when the ball was moved to the right wing where Patrick Merryfield beat three defenders to score in the corner.

Soon after, Adam Elkins added a second from full-back when he joined the line and scored under the posts with Joe Hartshorne adding the extras.

The next try was more of a team effort when Jack Painter, George Oxley, Sam White, Tom White, Will Macarthur Charlie Clough drove into Gordano’s 22. Merryfield beat the first defender only to be brought down, but his offload found Tom Mellhuish in support and he dived in at the corner to score his first try for the club.

Soon after, George Marsh broke from scrum-half and scampered behind the posts for a fine try. Hartshorne added the conversion bringing the half-time score 24-0.

After the break, good defending from George Harrison and Hartshorne kept Gordano out, but the hosts crossed for a try when Winscombe were a man down. On being restored to 15 players, Winscombe captain Tristan Greene crossed under the posts for another converted try making the final score 31-7.