Hornets ran in 10 tries in their derby encounter with Yatton.

HORNETS 62 pts

YATTON 11 pts

HORNETS picked up were they left off last season with a dominant scrum and backs ready to attack whenever the opportunity arose.

It took the home side 10 minutes to settle in front of a large crowd, including many patrons and vice-president’s who had enjoyed a pre-match lunch.

New full-back Gadd hit the line at pace to score out wide on his debut, the extras were missed but the writing was on the wall. Yatton replied with a penalty before Hornets lost new skipper Kent for a blood injury and the first of many substitutions under the new laws.

Parker was next on the score sheet crashing over from close range, Jones added the extras. The Yatton pack were having a torrid time, with the flankers having to work hard to stabilise the scrum.

Hornets scrum-half Collings sold a dummy and danced through the Yatton defence from 22 metres, the conversion was again missed.

As the half drew to a close, Yatton replied with penalty, but from the restart the ball was worked upfield for Parker to claim his second under the post Jones added the extras with the last kick of the half for an interval lead of 24-6 to the home side.

Changes for both teams at half-time saw Yatton dig in, but the pace of Cornish on for the injured Bradley soon told as he out-stripped the defence to score with 14 minutes of the half gone.

The backs now started to cut loose. Letherby then Jones scored in quick succession with Jones converting both it looked like Yatton were going to be in for a devastating final quarter. From the restart, Griffiths gifted the Yatton scrum-half a perfect pass to scuttle over for an unconverted try.

From the restart Griffiths redeemed himself with backs and forwards linking he was on hand to go in under the posts, with Jones converting. The busy Geddes was next to score and he final try came from new player coach Alec Chase. Jones added the extras with the last kick of the match.

Credit must be given to a young Yatton side that never gave up and will have better days at the office. Hornets produced a solid all-round display, but there is room for improvement.

Old Reds 2nd XV 5 pts

Hornets 4th XV 27 pts

Hornets seconds travelled away to Old Reds, with a full squad. From the kick-off, S Owens broke through to put M Sheridan over in the corner.

After the restart, the forwards claimed the ball, giving the backs quick ball. Good handling saw Sheridan sprint through to touch down for his second try.

After 35 minutes of hard running, J Hedges was replaced by K Gardner. At half-time, more changes were made with R Jones, B Cox, A Graves and R Matson replacing D Nettleton, J Snelling, J Hallett, and J Burrell.

From the restart, Old Reds’ scrum-half dislocated his shoulder. After the ambulance had gone, play continued, with the home side crossing the line for their only try of the game.

Good play by R Hedges and G Speller saw Cox get tackled short of the line, but a good offload saw A Vaughn score his first try. Good running by Partridge and counter play by Owens saw him score his first try.

With hard running from Hornets and the quick feet of Owens saw him to touch down for his second try of the game, with Vaughn converting.

Man of the match was Hallett.