Three-way fixture for Weston youngsters

WESTON Under-12s visited Winscombe to take on a three-way fixture against Cleve and two teams from Winscombe.

In the first game, Weston were beaten by a strong Winscombe side who ran in five tries, with only a late effort from Billy Howells bringing any consolation for the Weston forwards.

The work of Marshall Hobbs, Ryan Jones and Euan Braidwood, in series of strong drives, had little reward despite their periods of dominance.

The second game against Cleve was more evenly matched with Joe Connolly and Tom Biggs starting to make their presence known. Cleve, however, had pace to burn and managed to run in four tries before George Steele set up Jack Press to give Weston the only reply of the game.

In the third game, Weston played another Winscombe side. This time Weston found their form as the backs started to run the ball with Lewis Paterson scoring two fine tries.

Hayden Main added two quality tries of his own to seal the game 4-2 to Weston. Man of the match went to Kyron Pearce.

The Under-9s performed well in the first match against Winscombe. In the first-half, there were scores from Jacob Simpson, Will Crane, Brett Robinson and George Nuttycombe and led 4-1 at the break.

In the second half it was more of the same, enabling Weston to score a further three tries by Brett and Jacob who added two more to his tally. Ryan Elderidge tackled extremely well in this encounter along with Will Crane.

In the second match against Winscombe they came out stronger and Weston struggled with their tackling. The player who made the only scores was Kieran Panayi, who scored two great tries, but the score was 8-2 to Winscombe.

The second match against Cleve was a completely different affair. Will Flavin, Will Crane, George Nuttycombe, and Ryan Elderidge tackled hard and tried to get through the Cleeve defence.

Cleeve scored first and Weston replied with a score again from Brett Robinson and the half time score was 1-1.

After the break, Cleeve started strongly, but Weston stayed with them and Flavin touched down as the match ended in a well-deserved 2-2 draw for both sides.

The second match against Cleve saw both sides using all their players during the match. Cleve got off to a flier, scoring four in the first half to none from Weston, as Kieran Panayi and Bailey Seviour tried to stop the opposition with some great tackling.

In the second half after substituting some tired legs, Weston pushed hard and Crane, Nuttycombe and Flavin made some crunching runs and determined tackling, scoring through Nuttycombe (2) and Crane to take the score to 8-3 to Cleve.

The Under-14s welcomed last year’s cup winners and hot favourites Winscombe to the Rec for the semi-final of the Bristol Combination Cup and were left stunned after conceding eight unanswered tries from their visitors.

To compound Weston’s misery, Winscombe’s kicker also brought his best boots along managing to add seven conversions.

Weston’s pack more than matched Winscombe, but Winscombe held all the aces in the backs, with a skilful midfield and a tall winger, as Weston went into half-time 33-0 down.

For Weston, props George Bamsey and Jack Howard had huge games, leading from the front, backed up by the rest of the pack who were superb. Dan Press at scrum-half and Aaron Snow at full-back also played well.

HORNETS Under-12s hosted county champions Keynsham, a team they have never beaten.

Assisted by Burnham players, this proved to be a historic day. In the first game, several missed tackles allowed Keynsham to score twice. A superb Tom Read charge down resulted in a Hornets try by a Burnham player, but it was disallowed for offside.

Read immediately hit back by blasting through several tackles for a try. Alex Leeks converted and Hornets/Burnham were back in it. More missed tackles resulted in a further Keynsham try and they won the first game.

For the second game, Hornets/Burnham upped the tempo with debutant Harrison Disney putting in tackle of the day. Then, from the back of a scrum, Read used his strength to score in the corner. A Burnham player converted and Hornets/Burnham led, but further missed tackles led Keynsham score again.

Crucially, Keynsham missed the conversion and Hornets/Burnham then defended excellently and won a tight game 7-5 to record their first-ever win against Keynsham in over 10 attempts.

The Under-8s entertained Keynsham and with both teams having large squads, six games were played.

With lots of attacking rugby and good support play on both show from all the players, defence was going to be key and the deciding factor.

It was turnover ball from either seeing out the set of tackles or great defensive pressure in several games that provided Hornets the opportunity to sneak victories in several games.

The Under-9s decided to have three games against Keynsham, with the teams changing at half-time to ensure everyone got a run out.

However, Keynsham proved to be too strong with good defence and some confident runners. The final result from the three games was 19-2 to Keynsham. Special mention to Willow for being the only try scorer.

The Under-13s travelled to Clifton for the semi-final of the Bristol Combination Cup. Unfortunately the young boys failed to perform to their usual standard and were beaten 36-12.

Two early tries were conceded in the first half due to some weak tackling, but Hornets dug in and managed to contain the large Clifton lads until the break.

The second half started in a similar fashion with Clifton running in four more tries and three conversions. Hornets settled and started taking the game to their opponents managing to score two tries both by Quentin Queral, with Bradley Lucas converting one for a final score 12-36.

The Under-14s travelled to Old Bristolians missing five players, but still managed to put out a full team for this closely fought and exciting game.

The forwards were on top form with second rows Andy Meghan and Ed Mann having good games and new boy Jack Thomas performed well at prop.

Hornets had the edge thanks to the boot of fly-half Tom Bailey with two cracking conversions. No 8 Nick Hitchens had an excellent game earning him man of the Match.

Hitchens scored four tries and captain Ieuan Walters went over for one. Scrum-half Dan O’Dea kept the forwards working well and back row wing forward Ethan Harris made good ground.

Winger Bailey Hill showed improvement and full-back Josh Cooke was back to his best. Hooker Mike Brooks had to leave the pitch with a bad knee injury, but Hornets turned in the best performance this season and came out 29-25 winners.

The Under-10s took on Keynsham in two evenly-matched games, with the first game ending in a 3-3 draw.

In the second match, the visitors scored in the last 20 seconds to secure a narrow 2-1 victory, despite some excellent defending.

WINSCOMBE Under-15s moved into the next round of the Bristol & District Junior Combination Plate following a hard-fought 36-30 win against North Bristol.

Winscombe’s Joe Duran went over for the first try soon after, converted by Joe Hartshorne, before North quickly scored, but Winscombe returned with another converted try from Hartshorne.

Bristol scored again, but after a clearance kick by Hartshorne, good play by George Harrison set up Connor Wall to score.

North Bristol started the second half strongly, quickly driving through Combe’s defence for a try. Winscombe replied when a quick pass from Hartshorne to Thomas Amer gained Combe some ground, which Wall was able to capitalise on to score his second try, again converted by Hartshorne.

However, North Bristol refused to lie down and scored two tries. After the restart, Winscombe showed their character and Wall collected a clearance kick near the halfway line and powered his way through to score his third of the day.

North were able to score another try before Adam Elkins added another for Combe after the restart, collecting the ball in Winscombe’s half and jinking his way through North’s defence.

YATTON Rugby Club minis and juniors held their own Movember event last weekend.

All players and coaches were made up on arrival and played wearing various styles of moustache for men’s health awareness. The club raised funds for the charity and had great fun doing it. Bristol RFC captain Mark Sorenson came down with his real moustache to support the event.

Bristol RFC captain Mark Sorenson with coaches, parents and players.