HORNETS stung Chew Valley at Hutton Moor Park last week and strengthened their grip at the top of the table with an 11 try victory.

HORNETS stung Chew Valley at Hutton Moor Park last week and strengthened their grip at the top of the table with an 11 try victory.

Hornets welcomed Tim Coker back to the side as he became the 40th player this season to pull on the 1st XV jersey.

This had little consequence to the way they started though as it took only 90 seconds for the home side to open their account when Sam Lloyd-Jones put Paul Sheppard through to score.

However, the Chew team were keen to make a contest of it in the opening exchanges and had soon pegged the lead back to two points with a penalty. This acted as a catalyst to Hornets and led to them securing their bonus point inside the first 20 minutes.

With forwards and backs interlinking in all areas of play, the pressure mounted on the visitors’ line. With quick ball being won in the 22, it was passed out one way and then the other for Matt Vaughan to find the gap and record the first of his four tries.

Minutes later and centre partner Mike D’Arcy, making a very welcome return from injury, cut through the defence on halfway and raced through to the line. Unfortunately he was held-up, but the resulting five metre scrum was pushed over for Greg Speller to touch down. Paul Sheppard converted.

From the restart, Hornets drove deep into the Chew half and with a well-worked blindside move, Vaughan gave a well weighted pass to Lloyd-Jones, who ran in unopposed to register the fourth try.

Then Vaughan crashed through from close range to score his second. Sheppard converted and Hornets took a lead of 29-3 into the break.

The second half started in similar fashion with Vaughan completing his hat-trick in the first minute. The ball was spun wide and with Vaughan looping to create the extra man, he crossed in the corner. Sheppard hit the post with the conversion.

Chew Valley refused to surrender and credit has to be given to them for the spirit they showed in the face of such pressure. They were helpless though as Vaughan made a further break through the middle where he found Phil Hogarth on hand to receive the final pass and score his first try. Sheppard added the extras.

By now Hornets players were queuing up to score, only stopped by resolute defence. It wasn’t long before the scorers were called into action again as Sonny Haines took a short crash ball to rack up another five points.

Relentless attacking led to the ninth try, which was a pure forwards effort as they drove straight at the heart of the visitors’ defence, leaving Dave Geddes to touch down at the back of the maul.

From the restart, Hornets welcomed prop Neil Chenoweth to the fray. There was no let up in the determination of the side and when Chew were awarded a scrum on their own five metre line, the home pack took the ball against the head.

Two quick passes gave it to Vaughan and he smashed through to cap an excellent performance with his fourth try. Sheppard converted.

Not satisfied with this, Hornets again attacked and when Hogarth found himself in space on halfway, he raced to the line to notch up his second try, and ended the game with a 63-3 victory.

On Saturday, Hornets travel to Hyde Park to take on Taunton 2nds in what will undoubtedly be an enthralling match as they are one of only three sides to deny Hornets a try scoring bonus point. Kick-off is at 2.30pm.

Burnham-on-Sea 2nd XV 5 pts

Hornets 3rd XV 20 pts

HORNETS 3rd XV were due to play Wellington this week, but they were unable to raise a side, so they played Burnham, where they were triumphant.

Early mistakes by Hornets gave Burnham some good possession, which they used to cross the Hornets try line, but the try was disallowed.

This wake-up call kick started the forwards, who used their driving mauls to get back upfield, moving the ball out to Steve Edwards to score the opening try. Soon after, Edwards set up Damian Hewlett to crash his way over the line.

The Hornets forwards continued to attack the opposition with excellent offloading and ball carrying by Sean Steadman, Sam Baker and Mike Ryan, which eventually led to the third try.

After the break, Paul Brown had a fantastic game at hooker, Dave Jones led the team well, orchestrating the game along with scrum-half Mike Kilpatrick. Hornets earnt a hard fought try when Dave Geddes smashed his way through to score.

In the dying seconds of the game, Burnham scored a consolation try as the final whistle was blown, Man of the match was Dave Geddes.