Hornets defeated North Petherton to set up a Somerset Cup final against Weston.

North Petherton 34 pts

Hornets 40 pts

Hornets booked themselves a Somerset Cup final spot against local rivals Weston in a high-scoring semi-final at North Petherton.

However, they will look back with relief rather than satisfaction as they made what looked as though it was going to be a convincing win into a nail-biting finish which saw Hornets desperately holding onto their lead.

Hornets, who play in the division above North Petherton, started the day in impressive style. With the weather good and the pitch looking in perfect condition, the scene was set for Hornets’ style of expansive running rugby.

The forwards gave a solid platform and the backs took advantage of four scoring opportunities to race into a 26-0 lead.

Adam Francis and Robert Dempsey were able to find holes in the home defence with Dempsey scoring one and Charlie Carter in impressive form finishing three sharp chances to run in a first-half hat-trick.

However, with Hornets looking to register a high score, the game took a twist before half-time. First the visitors lost Joseph Gadd to a nasty looking injury, which was later to be diagnosed as a broken ankle, and as Hornets looked to re-organise North Petherton sprang into life and hit back with three tries of their own.

Hornets scored again on the stroke of half-time through Dexter Nettleton to give a half time score of 33-17, but Hornets knew they still had a game on their hands in the second half.

And so it proved. Hornets managed only one further score in the second half through Jermaine Jones, while the home side scored three more tries to bring the score to 40-34 and ended the game pushing for the winning score.

Hornets will now look forward to remaining league games, starting with Barnstaple on Saturday, knowing they also now have a Somerset Cup final against Weston to look forward to when they will look to retain their Somerset crown in front of what is bound to be a big crowd on the day.