Hornets Under-10s won the shield final at their own festival.

HORNETS Under-10s won the shield final in their own festival, courtesy of scoring first.

During the festival, Hornets faced touring sides from Cornwall to the Midlands. First up was Abertillery which resulted in a 2-0 win with tries from Reef Morton and Reeve Bailey.

In their second game, Hornets lost 2-0 to eventual losing finalists Bracknell. Their third game against Ivybridge was close and the score was stalemate at 1-1. Hornets’ last game against Biggleswade of Bedford saw them 2-1 ahead with tries from Tom Read and Keelan Hodges-Swales and a semi-final place beckoning.

However, some poor defending let Biggleswade score two late tries and Hornets lost 3-2, so ended up in the shield.

Both Shield pool games were played against Welsh opposition and first up was St Josephs, but Hornets confirmed their dominance by winning 2-0 with Read scoring both tries.

They faced Abertillery again and Hornets confirmed they were the better side by beating them 2-0 for the second time with tries from Tim Morris and Read. This put Hornets in the final and they were up against Cornish side Ivybridge again.

Hornets scored first thanks to a great team move finished off by Read. A sloppy bit of defending let Ivybridge through to draw level but Hornets held on. The result ended 1-1 and Hornets won the shield as they scored first.

Hornets overall man of the match went to Reeve Bailey.

Hornets Under-10 player Keelan Hodges-Swales breaking through a tackle, backed up by Harry McFarling against Ivybridge in the shield final.

The Under-13s welcomed Swindon to Hutton Moor and turned in their best performance at home this season, scoring 13 tries.

Hornets started at full pace and it didn’t take long before Paddy Holyday scored a trademark try. Barney Derham was next to score after good work by Thomas Cocking, Louie Vearncombe, Callam Tanner, Adam Dover and Jack Mohide, which provided a platform for Jack Higgins and Alex Francis to set up Derham, converted by Humphris.

Two tries by Holyday and Derham and converted by Humphris put Hornets in at half-time 36-0 up.

After the break, Swindon scored an early try. The biggest cheer of the day was saved for Freddie Dolcezza when he went over for his first try for this season. Further tries were scored by Cocking and Derham (3), to make six for the day, Jordan Humphris and Bryn Solomon. Three conversions by Keane Williams made the final score 77-5.

The Under-11s took part in their annual minis festival on Saturday in possibly the worst weather conditions of the season. This didn’t detract the 10 teams participating and enjoying a full day’s rugby.

Hornets’ first game of the day was against Exeter Saracens. They consistently attacked the Saracens line, but could not break through the well-organised defence. The second game was against Bracknell. Hornets took the lead when Ethan Loveridge intercepted a Bracknell attack in his own half to score a great solo try. Bracknell continued to run the ball, resulting in a well-worked try for their winger.

The third game was against Old Halesonians and Hornets scored two tries in each half, Ayden Chenoweth scored first followed by Bradley Lucas, Oscar Browne and Charlie Fairhurst.

The final game was against Biggleswade and a win was needed to progress into the main cup competition. Hornets started quickly scoring two tries in the first half by Jack Weaving and Oscar followed by a third try in the second half by Fairhurst.

Hornets went into the semi-final against an unbeaten Ivybridge. Hornets continued to rotate their squad by making eight changes at half-time. Ivybridge proved to be too strong running out 15-0 winners.

In the plate final, Hornets met with Bracknell again following their loss to Keynsham in the other semi-final. Hornets mixed their style of play scoring two unanswered tries, one from Oliver Howard and the other by Ayden Chenoweth.

An excellent all round performance from all 20 players: Amy Coles, Ayden Chenoweth, Bradley Lucas, Charlie Fairhurst, Connor Hill, Eddie Williams, Ethan Loveridge, Jack Weaving, Joe Frost, Lachie Carver-Cox, Lois Bird, Mitch Hawkes, Nathan Langdon, Oliver Howard, Oscar Browne, Owen Brake, Rhys Clarke, Sebastian Wood, Tom Cattermole and Thomas Howling.

WESTON Under-9s were able to enter two sides as they hosted a tournament on Sunday.

Weston Pirates began proceedings against a well-organised Biggleswade team. In a competitive game, Weston went down by three tries to nil. Top tacklers included Matthew James, Max Dunstone and Dylan Way.

In the second game, the Pirates played Weston Seasiders. This was a close contest in which the Pirates avenged a defeat a few weeks ago winning 1-0. The try was scored by Bradley Robinson.

Charlie Harding had a fantastic game for the Pirates and for the Seasiders, Alfie Calcutt and Jamie Meadon led the tackle count. Lottie Dadds also had a great game.

In their final game, the Pirates lost to a physical Bracknell side with George Charalambous prominent in defence and debutant Ryan Bradfield proved a handful in attack.

Weston Seasiders won a great game against Biggleswade 3-2 with tries from Calcutt and Paige Nigh. Ellie Redman was inches from scoring after a great touchline run, Jamie Meadon showed great skill in offloading in the tackle and Joel Briffitt was pleased to find his troublesome wobbly tooth in his gum shield.

A great morning of rugby was slightly tarnished when the referee had to call a halt to the final game, following a series of high tackles from the visiting Bracknell side.

Weston Under-9s in action against Biggleswade.

The Under-8s played their last game of the season against touring side Biggleswade. It was a close game with each side taking it in turns to score a try.

The first half saw Danny scoring a hat-trick of tries from some strong running. There was also good running and support from Tom, Huw, Tommy, James and Jayden.

Riley, Jude and Ollie made some great tagging to force Biggleswade to pass the ball out wide. Some tactical passing from Tom to Thomas ensured he scored Weston’s fourth try.

Weston started the second half strongly with a passage of great passing play by Tommy, Jayden, Sam C, Tom and Luke, ending with Thomas crossing the line for his second try.

Weston kept up the pressure with good tagging by Danny, Sam and Riley. Danny scored his fourth try after being passed the ball along the line from Luke, Jayden, Riley and Huw.

Weston kept up their defensive play with tagging by Sam, Ollie, Jude and Tom. The final try of the game was scored by James after a pass from Danny. The game was won 9-7 by Biggleswade, but it was a close game enjoyed by all.

The Under-8s are now looking forward to their presentation afternoon taking place on Sunday, after their training session.

The Under-7s welcomed touring side Biggleswade from Bedfordshire. In the first game there were a few dropped balls from both sides. There was some tremendous tagging from all the team and they all supported each other producing a fluent passing game.

Weston edged a win with scores from George Nuttycombe (3), Ben Crook and Tom Collard (2) and one apiece from William Flavin and Brett Robinson. The game ended 9-5 to Weston.

In the second game, Biggleswade put on a different team who put Weston under pressure.In the first-half, it was very close with Biggleswade leading 5-4.

After the break, both sides passed the ball well and strived for the line, but Biggleswade were a little stronger producing three tries to one. There were scores from George Nuttycombe (2), Jacob Simpson, Ben Crook and William Flavin. The score ended 8-5 to the visitors.

THE RBS Six Nations trophy will be on show at the Rhino Mendip Sevens on April 29 at Winscombe RFC.

The trophy is coming courtesy of sponsors, Rhino Rugby, who is also providing a scrum machine for the Khelo Rugby project in Kolkata. The plan is to pack a crate with surplus rugby kit.