OLD PATESIANS 48 pts WESTON 12 pts - WESTON'S record at Everest Road had not been good and last Saturday it became even worse as they conceded eight tries.

OLD PATESIANS 48 pts

WESTON 12 pts

WESTON'S record at Everest Road had not been good and last Saturday it became even worse as they conceded eight tries.

As the scoreline suggests, the Seasiders were rarely in the match. Their line-out, apart from a few early takes by Mike Kempton, failed to operate and with their scrimmage under continuous pressure, they were unable to retain any sort of possession, and the writing was clearly on the wall after only 35 minutes.

The Old Boys had gone ahead in the ninth minute after Weston had lost their second line-out, Barney Pascall being the beneficiary. Darren Moore was next to score following a driving maul and by the interval they had added two more tries by Jake Kitson and Steve Bryant, Adam Seager converting twice.

At 24-0, Weston were now looking down the barrel and when Moore collected his second try four minutes into the second half, the hosts were well on their way to victory.

Seager converted again, but Weston, now with the slope in their favour, responded at last when David Steele's kick to the corner was successfully chased down by Paul Sprague for Chris Young to convert, but the Seasiders' defence failed again three minutes later when Ben Davies was allowed to run through several tackles.

The score was now 36-7, but Weston countered when Josh Mortimore and Sprague made ground down the left and George Wright ran well for 40 metres.

But both moves ended with no result and the hosts scored twice more through Matt Deacon and Pascall's second, converted by Webber. Weston managed to have the final word when replacement centre Dan Fry's break put Kirk Middlemiss over at the right corner, but the visitors had been well and truly beaten.

Bright spots in this performance were few and far between, but Kempton and George Sparks continued their excellent form and Middlemiss carried out some sterling work in defence.

But Weston will have to up their game for the visit of Oxford Harlequins this Saturday. They will need to secure their line-out and scrimmage and they will have to make sure they find the touchline from penalties which they failed to do on six occasions.

Weston: L Voisey; K Middlemiss, D Steele, J Reid (D Fry 77), P Sprague; C Young, J Mortimore; D Price, D Elliott (C Withers 33), M Down, M Kempton, A Russell (capt), E Smith (A Richards 52), G Wright, G Sparks.

STEVE Lang, who made a big impression on his debut against Maidenhead, has had to leave the club.

Welshman Lang, who had been unemployed, has now found a job, but this entails working on a Saturday.

With James Mackay having missed the first two matches with an elbow injury, and soon starting his university course at Loughborough, the Seasiders are running short of midfield players.

Weston Athletic 43 pts

North Petherton 10 pts

HAVING won promotion last season, the Athletic found their start in Somerset II difficult with an away defeat to Bridgwater 3rds in their opening fixture.

Keen to record their first win this home fixture almost did not happen due to a lack of a referee from an under pressure Somerset Society.

In the eleventh hour, back row forward and qualified referee Mark Walker stepped forward to control the game and allow the teams to play a highly competitive game.

A disorganised Athletic took to the field and the forwards soaked up early pressure, recycling ball from the contact and allowed the backs to pass wide benefitting to the full from the width provided by the Weston pitch.

After 15 minutes of pressure from Weston, Sharp recycled the ball to Matthews who flicked on to E Monelle to record the first points with a try at the corner. Failing to convert the extras, Weston found themselves immediately under pressure with a fine breakaway try by the North Petherton backs to equal the scores..

Weston suffered a period on the back foot with Petherton's confidence growing and the team on the attack. Despite pressure, Athletic handled this well to rally and through well driven ball, Matthews and Davidson recorded their first tries of the season and place Weston at a 19-5 advantage with Sharpe collecting the extras.

Half time saw the changes to the Weston side with injured Darleston retiring to allow Bennett on and Bush making way for Hobbs. The second half saw Weston in the driving seat with tries for Hobbs and Fryer, making a welcome return to the Athletic, and a brace for Bennett, Sharp converting two further kicks. Hudson made way for Wheatley to return to the front row with the stand-in hooker H Monelle returning to the backs. In the dying moments of the game a resurgent Petherton rallied to produce a fine forward drive and consolation try.