Weston Under-13s lost in the final of the Nandos Cup held at Filton SGS College in Bristol.

WESTON Under-13s travelled to Filton SGS College to take part in the Nandos Cup, competing against 10 local teams.

First game was against Keynsham where Kyron Pearce quickly scored two tries and another from Harry Strutt made the final score 3-0. The second game was won 3-0 against touring side Newquay.

Weston went a try down against St Marys, but Tom Flavin took advantage of opportunities from the kick-off to score two tries. A great run down the pitch from Reef Morton, who offloaded to Jack Press to score a third try made the final score 3-1 to Weston.

Weston’s running streak continued with a 2-0 victory over St Bernadettes, with tries from Harry Strutt and Reef Morton. Great team from forwards Brooklyn Chamberlain, Euan Braidwood, Joe Connolly and Marshall Hobbs, helped put Weston through to the plate semi-final against Avonmouth.

A convincing win against Avonmouth saw two tries from scrum-half Kyron Pearce and a further great offload to Flavin resulting in a final score of 3-0 to Weston. The final cup game against St Marys was a different story, as St Marys triumphed 3-0.

Weston came fourth out of 11 teams and full credit goes to the whole team who played in some horrible conditions. The referee congratulated Weston on being the most disciplined team.

Thanks to Filton College for hosting the event where some players watched the final of the cup between Chippenham and Dings at Ashton Gate at half-time between Bristol RFC and Bedford Blues.

The Under-12s entertained touring side Farnham in a series of seven-a-side fixtures. Farnham’s evasive skills proved to be far more suited to the game than Weston’s head first into contact approach throughout the morning.

It was great to see the home players learn from this difficult challenge and by the end, many were moving the ball well to avoid contact and scoring some tries as a result.

The best move was Alfie Calcutt’s run to commit the tackler and perfectly-timed release to the outside allowing Morgan Taylor to score.

Overall, Corey Turnbull, who only joined after Christmas, impressed the most, making several text book tackles as well as passing and linking with his team-mates.

The Under-8s played host for the mini festival and enjoyed a great morning’s rugby and both sides found the going hard against good opposition.

The blue sides played exclusively against Farnham. Across the four games, the side won one and lost the other three by an odd score in each occasion.

Jayden Hood led the scoring with a hatful of tries across the day and was backed up well by Roo Beckett who contributed tries in each match. Jack Hobbs made some great tags and a scored a try.

Shawn Shergold was always on hand to support and scored a good solo try, while Jack Groom put in some great passing to set up others for scores. Dominic Hawkins was strong in defence and Harry Gadsden showed again he is a real asset to the side.

The Weston reds fared much the same, losing out narrowly in the majority of the games. Kaylun Marnoch ran in a number of tries and Luke Buttery continues to improve, while JJ Weall scored several fine tries.

Morgan Fowler continues to improve and Fin Simpson showed again that he is a valuable member of the side. Thomas Withers is growing in confidence and Ollie Dadds showed great leadership.

As hosts to the tournament, the Under-9s showed an excellent attitude and level of performance in all of their games.

The opening game against Farnham A produced tries for Tom and Harry Collard and saw newest recruit Mckenzie Appleton score his first since joining the team. Farnham’s attacks were halted by a defiant Ben Donachie and Billy Charlton, whose reliable tackling troubled every opposition faced during the day.

Next opponents Painswick were well organised and Weston found it hard to break through their defensive line, although Jay Isaacs creating chances for Henry Ward to use his speed, only to be edged into touch near the try line.

There was more success against Farnham B, where possibly the try of the day occurred. Following a competent set-up by Will Bamsey, Appleton broke through the defence, Sam Slingsby in support, offloaded for Tom Collard to go over the line for a deciding try.

HORNETS Under-13s hosted their touring namesake Newquay Hornets and won five tries to three with the scoreline finishing 27-17.

WINSCOMBE Under-16s hosted touring side Stratford-upon-Avon on a blustery, wet day and could barely field a team.

Stratford started strongly and scored three tries early on, before Joe Hartshorne powered over to pull a try back before half-time.

After the break, the wind strengthened even further and this hampered play for both sides. Combe came out fighting, but failed to capitalise on their good work and possession to make it over the try line. However, Stratford were able to exploit gaps in Combe’s defence and scored two further tries to make the final score 7-31 to Stratford.