Hornettes suffered a defeat in their first match in the Women’s NC South West One following their promotion.

HORNETTES opened their season at home to Drybrook, their first match in the Women’s NC South West One following their promotion.

The challenge of Drybrook was made harder with a number of key players unavailable for selection. This gave opportunities for some of the fringe players to step up.

Hornettes began well and had most of the territory and possession, but could not find the final pass to create the overlap. Drybrook defended resolutely and as the half progressed came back into the game.

From a scrum five metres from the Hornettes line, the Drybrook No 8 scored in the corner. A couple of minutes later after a number of phases of attack, Hornettes gave away a penalty on their own 22 line.

Hornettes were slow to react and Drybrook took a quick tap penalty and burst through to score their second try.

To their credit, Hornettes had the better of the last few minutes of the half. They disrupted a Drybrook line-out and with backs and forwards combining well, captain Abbey Constable scored from close range. Emma Small converted the try to bring the half-time score to 7-10.

The second half was almost all Drybrook attack and Hornettes defending. As the team began to tire, Drybrook ran in three late tries and converted them all for a final score of 7-31.