Rusty Hornets beaten at Winscombe

HORNETS Under-11s travelled to Winscombe and had their first competitive game in over a month.

Winscombe had an organised line, which worked well and they capitalised by scoring four tries in the first-half. Hornets kept fighting and managed to pull one back through Kieran Crowley and another by Louie.

Although possession was fairly even, Winscombe did not waste any opportunity and managed a further three tries to run out 45-10 winners.

There was another game against Cheddar, who were also visiting Winscombe. This was a cracking game with Hornets causing Cheddar to dig deep, but they broke out to score late on in the first-half.

Crowley made a great run and scored a well-deserved try to make it a tense last five minutes, but Cheddar managed to break through the Hornets’ defence to score a last minute try.

Man of the match for Hornets was Josh.

The Under-15s welcomed Gordano to a sticky pitch at Hutton Moor, with both sets of players intent on playing expansive rugby.

Good pressure by Hornets in defence forced a spilled ball. Richardson spotted the loose ball and kicked it through and won the race to get his first of the day, converted by Keane Williams.

Eades and Dover were in control at the line-out while Williams made sure the backs spun the ball when the time was right. A line-out on Gordano’s 22 and Fitzpatrick and Entwistle harassed their jumpers and a slow pass out was seized upon by Richardson, who intercepted to score.

Not to be outdone, Gordano surged upfield to score a try. Hornets hit back with good play by Francis, Holyday, Dover and Cocking, before Francis crashed over, converted by Williams.

Soon after, Solomon broke the line and passed to Richardson to cross for another try.

After the break, a line-out was stolen by Eades and Holyday was able to barge over, converted by Humphris.

The next try was a classic Solomon break, Richardson was on hand for the offload and he sprinted clear for his fourth of the day to make the final score 38-5.

After the best part of a two month lay-off, theUnder-8s got back to playing rugby. Taking the short trip to Winscombe and finding Cheddar Valley also in attendance, meant plenty of games and back-to-back action for all.

The three Hornets teams of Yellow, Red and Orange managed to play nine close games in total, with five against Winscombe, three against Cheddar Valley and one final game between Hornets Red and Orange.

All the teams gave a good account of themselves with every player performing to the best of their abilities, supporting attacks, contributing in defence and playing until the final whistle.

After a long spell of no games due to bad weather, the Under-10s were away to Winscombe for a three-way fixture with Cheddar.

The squad of 20 played five games with a good all-round display. Hornets played some physical rugby with some great runs. Tries were scored by Robson, Ollie, James and Sam. The team tackled well to finish with two draws and three defeats.

The Under-13s played host to Gordano and being a last-minute fixture, Gordano arrived with two players short, Hornets offered the services of two of their strongest players and rested a couple for the first-half.

Gordano stung Hornets in the early exchanges and raced into a two try lead. The home side eventually settled and Reece Clarke showed great strength to reduce the deficit.

Gordano responded well breaking through the first line of defence at will and could have scored more, but for some great cover tackles from Hornets. The visitors had the final say of the half to lead 17-5 at the break.

The second half saw Hornets change their side and it did not take long before they got into their stride. Quick ball from a ruck saw the ball moved swiftly through numerous sets of hands, with Luke Collins taking the scoring pass to touch down for an excellent try, with the conversion added by Charlie Fairhurst.

The second try of the half for Collins quickly followed in similar fashion. Hornets’ final try came from Quentin Querl to make the final score 22-17 to Hornets

WESTON Under-13s travelled to Wells and came away decisive victors.

Weston lent two players to Wells who were low in numbers, but up for a well-spirited game of rugby.

Weston were soon ahead when Henry Cox scored his first try for Weston, quickly followed by Danilo Harness. Wells battled back, but two tries from Max Seymour-Shove soon put Weston well ahead.

A break from the scrum saw Rhys Matthews over and Joe Harper added two more tries of his own.

After the break, Joe Ham scored and Harness scored his second from halfway before Jack Bishop broke to go over the line. Wells finished the game with the last try of the match to make it 56-10. Congratulations go to Sonnie Slingham on his first game.

The Under-12s hosted Wells in a reverse of their first game of the season and the visitors were soon in the lead with a try.

The backs defended bravely with excellent tackling from Dom Marshall, Kyron Pearce, Lewis Paterson and Jack Press as they fought hard to contain an organised Wells side.

By contrast, the Weston forwards were dominant for large periods of the game as the size and strength of the Weston pack was difficult to contain. Brooke Chamberlain and Ryan Jones came close to scoring, supported by Joe Connolly and Billy Howells took them to within a whisker of the Wells line on more than one occasion. Ultimately, it was a series of mistakes including two tries gifted to Wells that resulted in a score line that flattered the visitors. The result was six tries to Wells without reply.

Man of the match went to Euan Braidwood.

WINSCOMBE Under-15s played old rivals Thornbury, who arrived with a squad of only 12.

Several of the home side’s players volunteered to play for the visitors so the game could be played. It soon became clear the weakened Thornbury side would not be able to perform at their usual high level and the game was rather one-sided.

George Harrison scored the first try for Combe in the opening minutes, but Thornbury came back to score a try. After Pat Merrifield was held up over the line, Sam White was able to score.

A dominant Winscombe side scored further first-half tries through Rory Hancock, Connor Wall, Tom Melluish and Joe Duran.

The weather was even worse during the second half, but it didn’t seem to dampen the enthusiasm of the Winscombe players. White was able to go over for his second, followed by tries for Wall, Thomas Amer, Hancock and Callum Edwards to make the final score 69-7.