Somerset Cup triumph for Hornets’ youngsters

HORNETS Under-18s won the Somerset Cup and sent second year colts Louis Symiakos, Kyle Cox, Dec Dorrington, Charlie Carter and Arthur Rousell’s up to senior rugby as Somerset champions.

Hornets ran out comfortable winners out scoring Wellington five tries to two in this 27012 victory, with winger Rousell scoring a hat-trick of tries that earned him the man of the match award.

Wellington started strongly and with Hornets’ line-out badly misfiring it was no surprise when they took the lead with a converted try. Wellington could have gone further ahead but for a thumping cover tackle by Charlie Carter.

Hornets began to get into the game scoring a try of their own through centre Sam Balkham, following good work by Connor Davidson and Adam Francis. Rousell then put the Hornets in front after linking up well with scrum-half Conor Littlewood.

Hooker Alex Perkins was forced off after a knock and was replaced by Under-17 skipper Kieran Ward and just before the interval, Wellington drew level with a well-struck penalty making the half-time score 10-apiece.

The second half saw Hornets pull away with Rousell adding two more tries and Francis scored a try at the posts, converted by Alex Colborne.

Ward had a superb game off the bench, as did Ben Reseigh, while Carter always looked assured at full-back.

The Under-17 members of the squad wish Symiakos, Cox, Dorrington, Carter and Rousell all the best for next year as they make the step up to senior rugby.

For the 17s there is one more game as they take on Warrington in the National Cup final on Sunday at Stourbridge.

A supporters’ bus is going from the Nest at cost of £10 a head. All support would be appreciated as these Hornets attempt to make their own little piece of history.

The Under-13s travelled to play Bournemouth on their end-of-season tour and came up against a strong and very large Bournemouth squad.

Hornets defended well from the start, but it wasn’t long before the hosts ran in their first of four first-half tries. The visitors were rewarded with the last score of the half when Jake Middleton scored under the posts.

The second half started well for Hornets as Middleton scored his second try, before Bournemouth ran in two more tries. Hornets had the last say when No 8 Nick Hitchens broke from the back of the pack before off loading to Middleton to complete his hat- trick to make the final score 30-15 to Bournemouth.

Man of the match was Nick Hitchens.

A glorious day saw Hornets minis welcome teams from far and near to their annual Hornets rugby festival.

In the Under-8s category, Hornets fielded two teams, Buzzers and Stingers.

The Buzzers opened the tournament against Abertillary, who fielded a strong and disciplined side. Unfortunately, the Buzzers forgot about defending and went down 3-6.

Next they took on a Bracknell1 team, but again the defensive play was weak and they were comfortably beaten 3-7.

In their last match against Swindon, they started to click and secured a 4-4 tie to finish third and get a place in the plate semis.

In the semi against Bracknell2, they tagged liked demons to force turnover ball and enjoyed their first win 6-5. Hopes were high for the plate final against Bracknell3 and the Buzzers did not disappoint as they put in another great team performance to win the final 6-3.

The Buzzer squad was Max, Willow, Finley, Maisone, Owen, William, Chris, Cameron.

The Stingers opened their account against Bracknell3 with a disciplined defence and saw them win a high scoring game 9-6. Next up was Bracknell2, who faced another strong team performance from the Stingers which resulted in a second win 6-3.

The final game was against Keynsham. The Stingers stuck to their game plan and in an exciting match, the Stingers finished 7-6 victors. As top of the table, the Stingers went into the cup semis and faced Abertillary.

The semi was even with both teams defending excellently. The difference came down to the team who made the fewest mistakes, which was Stingers who rejoiced with a 4-2 win and a place in the final.

The Stingers faced Bracknell1 and in an even contest, the honours were deservedly shared as it finished 2-2 and both teams were declared tournament winners.

Stinger squad: Harvey, Haydn, Oliver, Adam, Lucas, Luke, Harry, Dan

Thanks go to the coaches Lee and Dave for a fantastic season.

In their final games of the season, the Under-11s took part in their festival at Hutton Moor.

They did not play well in their three pool games with several missed tackles that resulted in tries for the opposition. The pool results were 0-0 with Abertillery, they lost 4-0 to eventual winners Bracknell and also lost 4-1 to Ivybridge with Keelan Hodges-Swales scoring Hornets’ try.

This meant Hornets were in the shield and they beat Swindon 2-0 in the semi-final and played Abertillery in the final. Hornets scored first through Tom Read, which proved to be vital at the final whistle.

A clever steal by Alex Leeks following an Abertillery scrum increased the lead to 2-0, but Hornets let their guard down and Abertillery scored two quick tries. In a nerve-wracking finish, Hornets held on and because they scored first, they won the shield. Over the season, Hornets won 18 of their 35 games, scoring 72 tries and conceding 62. Their biggest win was 8-1 against North Petherton and biggest loss was 5-0 to Newton Abbot.

Top try scorers were Tom Read (25) and Alex Leeks (10), but they could not have scored these without their teammates and everybody deserves credit.

The Under-14s welcomed Keynsham to Hutton Moor, but lost 18-29 against an enormous pack.

Keynsham started strongly and scored three quick tries. To their credit, Hornets rallied to great effect, with Jacob Parkman, Thomas Cocking and Liam Fitzpatrick leading from the front..

Good work by Keane Williams, Blake Williams, Aryan Feroughi and Jordan Humphris set up Bryn Turner to score a fine try, but Keynsham kept going and broke through to finish the half.

After the break, Jack Mohide, Adam Dover, Brandon Robinson, Jack Richardson and Paddy Holyday were making ground, but Keynsham scored a fine try. Again, Hornets reacted well, and Harry Taylor forced an error, and Taylor was first there to claim the try, converted by Keane.

Freddie Dolcezza, Jim Constable and Holyday set up the next try for Richardson, converted by Keano. Josh Entwistle and Spencer Coe both played well as Keynsham won 29-19.

Special mention to Keane Williams, who had an excellent game.

The Under-7s took part in their own tournament, with three teams entered - Ambers, Blacks and Little Stingers.

Ambers got off to a good start with the narrowest of margins win over Keynsham, followed by a second win over Swindon Exiles A. A draw against Swindon, a third win against Little Stingers, defeat against Bracknell A and four further wins against Abertillery, Bracknell B, Hornets Amber and Swindon Exiles B, gave a total of six wins, a draw and a defeat.

Blacks got off to a slow start against Swindon and were three tries down before scoring, the final score 10-7 to Swindon. Next, followed defeats to both Bracknell and Swindon Exiles teams, before a first win against Little Stingers.

This was followed by three good displays, but unfortunately further defeats against Abertillery, Hornets Black and Keynsham, gave a total of one win and eight defeats.

Little Stingers were mostly there for development and experience as this will be a majority of next season’s Under-7’, but they did manage to score five tries against Hornets Ambers and they never gave up.

In the end, the spoils went to Bracknell A who went undefeated with seven wins and a draw. Second were Swindon with six wins and two draws, with Hornets Amber taking 3rd.

Squads - Hornets Ambers: Louis, Josh, Joseph, Alex, Finley and Harvey. Hornets Blacks: Liam, Oliver, Ben, Rowan, Harry, Taylor and Will

Any child who is Year 3 from September and are interested in rugby, should go to http://bit.ly/HornetsU8 for details.

Hornets Under-7s pictured on their Devon tour.

WESTON Under-13s finished off their successful season with a good win over a spirited and determined St Bernadettes.

Weston were dwarfed by their huge visitors, but ultimately it was Weston’s fitness that won the day. With Cosmin Bilciurescu moving into the tight head berth in place of the injured Jack Howard, Weston knew they were in for a real battle.

The first half was a real end-to-end display of attacking rugby, with the lead changing hands several times. Weston’s Eddie Davies stole the limelight with a personal tally of six tries. With three tries each, the half time score was 19-19 with all to play for.

The early encounters in the second half were fairly even with Bernadettes’ huge pack putting the Weston eight under pressure at the scrum, but Weston stood firm and the home side were dominant in the rucks.

For Weston, hooker Jimmy Bamsey, Cosmin Bilciurescu, Josh Gardner, Mitchell Bird and Tom Hughes were all superb. Weston’s fitness eventually got the upper hand and they added four second half tries by Davies and one by George Bamsey, who had a storming day with ball in hand, Archie Tilsley converting four.

Dan Press, Jacob Manning and Tilsley all had great games, along with Kieron Hyde. The final score was 43-26 to Weston.

PADDY Holyday, who plays for Hornets Under-14s was selected to play for Somerset for their first-ever fixture at this age group against Dorset and Wilts at The Rec in Bath.