A late try by Joe Thompson gave Hornets Under-15s a narrow victory over Thornbury.

HORNETS Under-15s made the trip to Thornbury with a depleted squad of 16 players, due to a Somerset selection day.

Thornbury opened the scoring, but Hornets replied with a Luke Collins try converted by Charlie Fairhurst. The home side came straight back to score again, before Quentin Querl scored two quick tries, Fairhurst converting one.

The most popular try of the day came when Joe Thompson flattened several defenders before crossing for his first try for the club as Hornets led 24-12 at the break.

Thornbury started the second half the stronger scoring, reducing the deficit to five points. Ayden Chenoweth, who was outstanding all morning, finished a charge with a sublime offload to Will Bailey to score in the corner.

Thornbury’s restart landed straight in Querl’s hands and he duly ran the length of the pitch to record his hat-trick, Fairhurst adding the extras.

With the score now 36-17, the lads thought they had already won the game, but Thornbury ran in three unanswered tries and two conversions to level the score with less than five minutes to go.

The visitors regroups and were awarded a penalty five yards out. First Chenoweth tried a charge from close range but was halted short, before Thompson crashed over for his second try and secured the 41-36 win.