Hornets Under-12s finish runners-up in their own tournament.

HORNETS Under-12s took part in the Hornets’ Festival for the last time and came up against six sides in a round robin competition and came away as runners-up.

The first game against Welsh opposition was a tough encounter, but Hornets pushed Abertillery all the way and two tries by Paddy Holyday and Brandon Robinson were enough to take the spoils.

The second game against Ellingham and Ringwood was a real ding-dong battle, but solid defence by both sides prevented any score. Next up was Devon side Ivybridge and there was no let up in ferocity, but a try by Bryn Solomon was the only score of the game.

Local rivals Nailsea & Backwell, who eventually went on to win the tournament unbeaten, were next and Hornets were in damage-limitation mode. Robinson scored the only try.

Old Halesonians were Hornets next opponents, but neither defence were breeched.

The final game was against Swindon and Hornets hit top form. Holyday was first to score, followed by Jordan Humphris before Holyday grabbed another.

The whole squad contributed to the huge effort and medals were a fine reward. Louie Vernacombe, Esme Bird, Callam Tanner, Brandon Robinson, Jack Mohide, Liam Fitzpatrick, Paddy Holyday, Bryn Solomon, Jordan Humphris, Matthew Balcombe, Thomas Cocking, Spencer Coe, Alex Francis, Jacob Parkman, Harry Taylor, Bryn Tanner and Blake Williams.

A special mention to Esme Bird and Tiah Lauder, who will be leaving Hornets to pursue other sports.

The Under-9s hosted four sides in their annual festival and it proved a great success.

First up was Swindon and a superb team performance ensured a 5-0 win to the home side. Next was local rivals Nailsea & Backwell and the scoreline was the same with Hornets winning 5-0.

The third game was against Stockwood Sharks and Hornets posted their third 5-0 result. The last game was against Frampton Cotterell, who had also won their first three games.

The game was suspended for 10 minutes due to a nasty injury to Ben Cooke. With the last play of the game and Frampton needing to win the game to win the tournament, superb defence by Hornets made sure the score remained at 0-0.

This meant Hornets won the tournament with 17 points to Frampton’s 16. The try scorers were Tom Reed (6), Reef Morton (5), Aiden McComisky (2) and Alex Leeks (2).

There was good defensive work from Harry McFarling, Lloyd Chudley, Adam Dawood, plus runs to the corner by Reeve Bailey, Tim Morris and Lawrence Pilgrim.

Hornets did not concede a try in their four games and man of the festival was Tom Reed for his overall effort.

Special thanks to the parents who helped out on the day. Hornets’ season ended with winning 24 of their 41 games and scoring 161 tries to conceding 87.

IN their final game of the season, Weston Under-8s played host to a North Pertherton side which proved too strong.

In the first game, Weston started brightly and two tries from Dylan Way kept the side in contention. But the home side were always under pressure and it was only the great defence led by Bradley Robinson and Alfie Calcott which kept the score close.

Lewis Underhill ran strongly, supported well by Matthew Shaw and Tom Burge. Lottie Dadds came up with important tags, but two further tries from Calcott were not enough to reduce the deficit and the home team eventually lost 4-8.

The second game was unfortunately a similar tale. Good support play from Burge gave him an early try and Underhill similarly contributed soon after.

Calcott, Robinson and Way all contributed with tries, but the home side were always under pressure. Jackson Webb was excellent in defence and was well supported by Ellie Redman and Oscar Tarry.

Jamie Edgar and Edward Land continue to provide useful contributions, but Weston eventually lost 5-10.

Finally, this was also the last game for Dave Underhill, who is hanging up his boots after three years as coach. He will be sorely missed by all the team (and the parents) and the club all wish him well as he heads back to Devon.