Weston fell to their sixth defeat of the season at the hands of Brixham at the Recreation Ground.

WESTON 19 pts

BRIXHAM 29 pts

WESTON fell to their sixth defeat of the season when they went down by four tries to two at the Recreation Ground last Saturday.

The Seasiders had started brightly and a brace of penalties by full-back Jack Skelton gave them a six-point advantage by the 12th minute. But the visitors were soon replying and unconverted tries by wing Jonny Brown and centre Dean Squire took them into the lead which they were never to lose.

A driven line-out produced a try for prop Declan Sexton and when fly-half Ben Lovell and Skelton exchanged penalties, the score stood at 9-18 at the break.

Visiting centre Tom McLean added Brixham’s bonus point try nine minutes into the second half, but Weston responded four minutes later.

A drive, initiated by prop Ollie Streeter produced 15 phases at the end of which replacement Ross Bennett was the try scorer. It was a splendid team try, but Brixham were soon back on the attack and Lovell kicked his second penalty for 14-26.

Brixham were now well out of sight and Lovell’s third penalty settled the issue.

But in a final effort, debutant wing Mike McCarthy touched down in the right corner, Skelton’s conversion attempt striking a post and the crossbar before dropping on the wrong side.

Weston will be disappointed with this defeat, but they only have themselves to blame.

Too many important tackles were missed producing at least two of the Brixham tries and although the scrum was its usual self, the line-out was as poor as some of the defending.

Weston are now in a ‘must win’ situation. On Saturday, they host Old Redcliffians at the Recreation Ground (3pm) and on November 1 they receive Chard (2.30pm).

Both of these clubs are in the bottom four and victories would alleviate the pressure at the foot of the table.

Weston: J Skelton, M McCarthy, R Webster, S Edwards, O Caton, H Jones, H Tuttiett, D Crompton, C Withers, O Streeter, A Russell, E Hunt, S Eaton, B Cox, G Sparks (c). Replacements used: D Price, E Bulger, R Bennett.

In Weston’s defence it has to be said that a spate of injuries have prevented the settling of the team and the statistics show that no fewer than 38 players have been used in the seven matches so far, 20 of which having made their debuts.