Hornets youngsters record a double

HORNETS Under-10s made the short trip to Drove Road to play local rivals Weston in two games.

Played on the widest pitch this season, this allowed Hornets to play more expansive rugby. They were also far more competitive in the line-outs and the scrums nearly always pushed Weston back.

Lloyd Chudley played a big part in the middle of the rucks and Tom Read was always trying to rip the ball from Weston hands. Alex Leeks provided quick ball from the scrums and rucks to allow the game to flow.

The first game Hornets won 4-1 with determined touch downs from Reeve Bailey and Reef Morton. Harry McFarling also showed his strength with two tries.

The second game was closer, although Hornets won 2-0 with a try in each half from Bailey and Read. Both wins were helped by a man of the match performance from Tim Morris.

The Under-16s travelled to Midsomer Norton and came away 46-5 winners in an enjoyable game.

Sam Balkham started the ball rolling for Hornets when his pace proved too much for the cover defence. Conor Littlewood added the extras from the touchline.

Dan Saunders scored a try under the posts with Littlewood converting again. Full-back Balkham was soon scorching in for his second try followed by John Xanh, who beat off several defenders to score. Saunders added his second try of the day to make the half-time score 29-5 to Hornets.

After the break, Hornets managed a further three tries. The first came from No 8 Alex Colborne, followed by a fine score for Bailey Jackson, converted by Littlewood. Before the final whistle, Xanh matched Balkham and Saunders by grabbing his second try to finish the scoring at 46-5 to the Hornets.

Newport Caravans man of the match went to Lewis Brake, closely followed by Joe Howe and Ben Reseigh. Hornets also welcomed back Ben Ong from injury.

The Under-11s made the short trip to Weston and produced a great all-round team display to run out comfortable winners.

Bradley Lucas opening the scoring after some good work by Owen Brake, Thomas Howling, Jack Weaving and Joe Frost in the forwards. Charlie Fairhurst quickly followed to score the next.

From the restart Luke Collins ran up to halfway before offloading to Lucas to score his second try. Nathan Langdon scored next, followed by two for Oscar Browne. Ayden Chenoweth then got his first. Eddie Williams caught the restart and as a result of his direct running, Tom Cattermole collected his pass and scored a fine try.

Superb work by Sebastian Wood and Rhys Clarke gave Lois Bird and Amy Coles chance to run with the ball, creating space for Oscar to score two more and Ayden a second.

Ethan Loveridge made good inroads to set Lachie Carver-Cox on his way to score the final try of the morning. Hornets scored 12 tries and nine conversions with no reply.

The game was played in fantastic spirit and full credit goes to the Weston players who never gave up.

The Under-8s squad of Robson, Roman, Andon, Alexander, Charley, Corey, James Daniel C, Daniel R, Daniel M, Sam, Alfie, Lewis, Louie and Lara took on Weston in two games.

Lara and Louie had good debuts and James and Charley scored six tries between them.

In the first game, Hornets were held to a 7-7 draw, but won the second game 7-3 with good tagging and running.

The Under-9s travelled to Weston where they played two games.

They won their first game of the season and the day 10-3, with Brennan scoring the first try of the game, followed by hat-tricks for Ruby and James.

In the second half, there were tries for Joseph, David and Ruby. There was great tackling from Louise, Kieron, Liam and Keaton and fantastic running from Elliot, Thomas and Charlie. There was good defensive rucking from Joshua and Louis.

The second game ended in a loss with score at 5-4 with the tries coming from James, Joseph and David. The player of the game trophy went to Ruby.

WESTON Under-14s continued to improve with an outstanding display against local rivals Hornets at the Rec.

Having lost heavily in previous seasons, Weston ran out comfortable winners against a spirited Hornets outfit. The early exchanges were physical and Hornets were unlucky to lose a player through injury.

Weston players Harry Upton and Gazza Hewlett showed great sportsmanship to swap shirts and join the Hornets side, so the teams could remain at 15-a-side. Soon after, the outstanding Jacob Cox crashed over to score Weston’s opener, converted by Harry Flower.

Sol Ward’s surges through the Hornets defence saw a second try for Cox. Hornets hit back, but outstanding tackles from Joe Lee and Harry Spedding kept them out. Quick ball saw Flower outstrip the Hornets defence to score on the stroke of half-time.

Weston switched Harry Upton and Gazza Hewlett for the impressive Joe Lee and Dan Smith and started the second half expecting Hornets to come back strongly, but Flower soon crossed for his second try.

From a Hornets penalty, they drove over for a deserved try, which was converted. Determined tackling from James Aucott and Harry Upton and an outstanding catch and clearance from Jamie Wheeler kept Hornets at bay.

Callum Schafer, Rhys Langley and Harry Lewis continued to disrupt at every opportunity, but Hornets scored again. With a minute left, Weston set up a move from the training ground when Tom Sugg linked up for Liam Hynes to finish the game in style as Weston won 29-12.

Debutant Sol Ward was announced as the Hodge Single Ply Roofing man of the match.

The Under-10s played hosts to a strong Hornets side, but were unable to prise a win despite two spirited games.

The first game saw brave passages of play from Weston and strong competition by Keelan, Joe, Rhys and Jack at the breakdown. It was one such passage of fierce rucking by Marshall that enabled Jack to pass the ball to centres Taylor and Billy to see Hayden break through and score a consolation try. The game ended Weston 4-1 to Hornets.

The second game saw Weston show great tackling from Jack, Keelan and Liam, while Joe continued to win ball in the rucks. Courageous play from Billy, Jack and H saw the game finish 2-0 in Hornets favour. Man of the match was Joe Connolly.

An inexperienced Hornets Under-12s were welcomed to the The Rec for this local derby. They were faced by a Weston side who have only lost once in nearly 18 months.

In a shortened match of just 20 minutes, Weston used their experience to great effect and were soon on the scoreboard with a try by Jacob Manning. The second try soon followed through George Bamsey, the first of three he was to score on the day.

Other scorers in the first half were Manning, George Bamsey (2) and Jesse Dadds. Archie Tilsley added all the extras for a half-time score of Weston 42, Hornets 0.

The second half continued in the same way with Weston dominant in all areas against their spirited opponents and quickly adding further tries by Dadds and Mitchell Bird. The referee called time soon after for a final score of Weston 52, Hornets 0.

Weston gave debuts to Jordan Clark and Aaron Hoddinot, who are welcome additions to the squad.

The Under-16s entertained touring team Stonehouse Sharks from Plymouth and recorded their first victory in over a year.

Midway through the first half and after sustained pressure by Weston, Stonehouse conceded a penalty and George Chapman gave Weston a 3-0 lead at half-time.

In the second half, Weston went close to scoring after a series of drives by the forwards. Chapman’s crossfield chip saw Weston unlucky not to score.

Weston raised their game and were rewarded with a try midway through the half when centre Kye Carpenter powered over for the all-important score, Chapman adding the conversion.

An unlucky bounce at a line-out allowed Stonehouse to score an unconverted try and this led to a pulsating last five minutes, with Weston fully deserving their 10-5 victory.

The Under 9s hosted Hornets and entertained the crowd with some lovely running rugby from both sides.

It was agreed to play two full games so a total of 34 boys and girls enjoyed plenty of game time, showing some great skills in competitive games played in a good spirit.

The first game was a topsy-turvey affair with Weston scoring tries through Bradley Robinson, Thomas Burge and Max Dunstone.

Ellie Redman was unlucky not to be awarded a try in the corner. Louis Hughes led the defence with an amazing seven tackles and was supported by Charlie Harding, Joel Briffit and George Charalambous.

Hornets ran away with the second half, taking advantage of the large pitch. Ruby and Jamie ran in some fine tries as Hornets won 9-3.

In the second game, Weston started well and went into the lead with a try by Alfie Calcutt. He went on to score another later in the game and proved dangerous all morning.

Further tries were added by Lottie Dadds, Dillon Way and the speedy Louis Warren. Hornets rallied well at the end, but Weston held on for their first win of the season. Final score: Weston 5, Hornets 4.

The Under-7s started slowly against Hornets, soon going two tries behind. Weston regrouped with some excellent tagging from Jacob Simpson, Ben Crook and twins Harry and Tom Collard.

George Nuttycombe scored to open Weston’s account and a mistake from Hornets gave Brett Robinson the opportunity to draw the scores level. It became an equal affair with two more scores from both sides, both from Nuttycombe to take it to 4-4 at the break.

There was excellent tagging by Willow from Hornets, who caught Simpson in full flight to deny him a try, but Weston scored through Ben Crook, only to be matched by another try from Hornets.

Weston scored again with Crook going over in the corner, once again to be matched by Hornets. Weston then tagged with real purpose, Hornets spilled the ball and Nuttycombe benefited with a good try.

With one more play and some great passing by the whole team, Weston ended with a final try by Nuttycombe with the score finishing at 8-6 to Weston.

The second match introduced some new young players, Oliver Dadds, William Bamsey and Ben Donachie. Again Hornets scored first, but Tom Collard showed his pace to run down the line for a great try.

A few missed tags enabled Hornets to score two more tries to take the half-time score to 3-1 to the visitors.

Both teams substituted some players and immediately Jacob Simpson ran the length of the pitch to score. Some good tagging by Harry Collard, Nuttycombe and Simpson and good passing gave Nuttycombe a couple of scores to take the game to 4-3 to Weston.