Weston juniors romp home against Old Reds

WESTON Under-13s warmed up for their upcoming semi-final of the Bristol Junior Combination Plate when they welcomed old rivals Old Reds to the Rec.

Weston were quickly into their stride with strong tackling from their forwards, supported by quick aggressive running from their agile backs.

Tries from Bilciurescu, Davies (3), Bird and two conversions from Tilsley versus two tries and one conversion from the Old Reds led to a half-time score of 29-12 to Weston.

The second half mirrored the first with Weston maintaining their dominance in the forward exchanges and providing a great platform to release their quick backline to keep up the pressure on the opposition.

Weston added further tries from J Bamsey, G Bamsey, Howard (2) and Davies (2). Tilsley added to the score with three conversions. Old Reds did not let their heads drop and battled gainfully to end where they added one unconverted try to their tally to make the final score 65-17.

Special mentions for Cosmin Bilciurescu and Jimmy Bamsey, who both had stand-out performances on the day.

HORNETS Under-14s have always struggled against Nailsea, but this time they showed great spirit and determination and could have caused an upset.

The game started at a furious pace with strong runs by Alex Francis and Jack Richardson, along with Paddy Holyday and Bryn Solomon, who took the game to Nailsea.

The pack were delivering quality ball for the backs to run, Bryn Turner and Harry Taylor made good ground with every opportunity. Hornets inched their way up the pitch but could not score.

A break in midfield led to Nailsea’s first and only score in an entertaining first-half.

The second half saw Nailsea break to score again. Hornets never let their heads drop and continued to pummel the Nailsea defence which stood firm.

The handling and recycling by the forwards was of a high standard and some huge defensive tackles by Jack Richardson and Blake Williams were outstanding. Nailsea broke out again and scored again to make the final score 19-0.

After a slow start, the Under-12s began to dominate Keynsham in the first quarter and were creating some good ball from ruck and maul and the set piece scrummage was excellent and sustained pressure saw Owen Brake score the opening try.

After the break, Keynsham scored two quick tries from breakaways. A break from the scrum by Nathan Langdon set up Luke Collins to level the scores, but Keynsham once again pushed ahead when they turned over the ball at the scrum.

Going into the final quarter, Langdon scored a classic scrum-half try from close range, but Hornets conceded a try straight from the kick-off. This proved to be the final score of the match and saw Keynsham win by five tries to three.

Reece was outstanding, as was Ayden, but man of the match was Nathan Langdon.

The Under-7s travelled to Keynsham and put on probably their best performance of the season.

With both clubs able to support three teams each, a total of nine games were played, which meant all 14 Hornets had plenty of game time. All put on a near faultless display with no forward passes.

This resulted in end-to-end games that entertained all the supporters, with all players contributing to tries to the team cause and all making tags at critical times during games.

The Under-9s played three games against Keynsham in an excellent performance.

There was good play from Louis, Alexander and James and they were well backed up by James and Lara.

The Under-11s travelled to Keynsham, a team they have never beaten. In the first game, Hornets were half asleep and as a result there were several missed tackles, they got pushed back in nearly all the scrums and the line-outs were mostly lost.

Hornets played slightly better in the second half with Tom Read piling over several Keynsham players to score in the corner, but Keynsham won the first game 4-1. Hornets found their form for the second game and Reeve Bailey gave a great example of tackling. Their defence was also much better, stopping Keynsham several times from getting near to their try line.

Big tackles were made by Tim Morris, Lloyd Chudley and Lawrence Pilgrim, despite several Keynsham players putting in high tackles. Harry McFarling made good progress through the middle and Millie Bamfield made a crucial tackle to stop a Keynsham try in the corner.

A quick move from Alex Leeks got the ball to Sam Hughes, who skipped past three Keynsham players and ran 30 yards to score in the corner. At this point the game was evenly poised at 1-1, but some more missed tackles at the end allowed Keynsham to score twice and they won the second game 3-1.

The Under-8s travelled to Keynsham with a respectable 13 players in attendance. Keynsham had also invited St Brendans and St Marys and the teams were able to play a mini tournament style.

Hornets played Keynsham on easily the biggest pitch of the season, but this did not phase the players. The passing and support play was outstanding and although the spirited Keynsham team put up a fight, they were outclassed by a superior Hornets team display.

Final score Hornets 10, Keynsham 4. Scorers: Willow, Maison, Adam (2), Finley (3) and Max (3).

The second match saw both teams run in eight tries in a true end-to-end affair. Scorers: Maison, Owen, Adam, Willow, Max and Finley (3).

The third match was played on a smaller pitch and the team regained its composure and silenced the opposition with a convincing 8-4 victory. Scorers: Max, Maison, Adam(2), Finley (2) and Willow (2).

Man of the match was awarded to Max.