WINSCOMBE Under-14s travelled to Taunton in for a Somerset Cup quarter-final missing two of the front row and their top try-scorer.

WINSCOMBE Under-14s travelled to Taunton for a Somerset Cup quarter-final missing two of the front row and their top try-scorer.

However, Winscombe scored first through Tom Cooksey. Taunton hit back immediately, their forwards driving up the pitch and then over the line.

With Sam Rees at fly-half and Darren Atkins at inside centre combining well, it was not long before Atkins touched down. Cooksey soon gained his second when Branch popped up a ball from the tackle. Just before half-time, Rees ghosted through the middle of their defence to score beneath the posts.

After the break, Winscombe scored again when Toby Sims tackled a receiver from Rees’ kick, Branch touched down under the posts. The midfield combination continued to rule the match, bringing Patrick Bapty and Sam Chedzoy into the game and after a typical interchange of quick passes, Atkins scored his second.

It was not long before Cooksey made his hat-trick, but Taunton were still dangerous and managed to score a try. Winscombe were soon back on the attack, a break by Rees took him through the middle of the defence, he spun a long pass to Branch who galloped in to score.

The match was finally finished when Cooksey collected another recycled ball to score his fourth, allowing Atkins to complete his third conversion for a final score of 51-12.

Winscombe now face old rivals Hornets in the semi-finals.

HORNETS Under-14s travelled to Burnham to play in the quarter-final of the Somerset Cup and the squad of 19 all played their part.

The first try went to the Hornets through Nathan Scott. The Hornets then took control in all phases of the game and scored a further five tries in the first half through Jacob Swain, Kieran Manning, Byron Marriott and Curtis Langdon (2). Two of the tries were converted by Danny Bailey to make the half-time score 3-0.

The second half continued in the same way as the first and the Hornets added a further seven tries, these being scored by Jacob Swain (2), Byron Marriott (2), Gareth Brock, Josphin Buxton and Scott Warman. Two of these were converted by Bailey, whilst Brock converted his own try. Final score Hornets 75-0.

The Under-15s swept aside Bath in this Somerset Cup quarter-final.

Hornets found themselves two tries down after 20 minutes. That was until the Hornets clicked back into gear and the super quick Lowrie recorded four tries, top scorer Francis struck a double and Caulfield, Greatbanks and Thompson crossed for a try each, while Francis added six conversions making the final score 57-10 to Hornets.

McLaughlin had a storming game at openside and Davidson had his best game this year in the No 9 shirt, while Greatbanks also had one of his better games. But it was Nicholls who made off with the carbase.biz man of the match award.

The Under-9s hosted Wellington on firm ground that made tackling a bit painful. Hornets put in a big effort with Tim Morris and Reef Morton prominent. There was also tough tackling from Reeve Bailey and Aiden McComisky and a Tom Reed burst through the middle that got near to the Wellington try line.

However, this was a lesson for Hornets in hard tackling and how to take quick re-starts, two of which resulted in Wellington tries. The score ended 4-0 to Wellington. Lessons were learnt from this and the second game was much closer. Alex Leeks provided quicker ball out of the set pieces, plus Harry McFarling put in some sterling work in the rucks.

Quick thinking from Tom Reed following a ruck ended up in a try and a good overall team effort ended up with Tim Morris also touching down. However, Hornets could not stop Wellington and the final score ended 2-2.

The Under-10s played host to Wellington looking to revenge a narrow defeat on the first game of the season.

Hornets broke the deadlock with Owen Brake scoring in the corner. Wellington came straight back taking advantage of some missed tackles to equalise. Hornets responded well with Owen scoring his second.

Wellington appeared to step up a level and scored two tries to take the lead for the first time. Ewan McComisky then levelled the scores with a fine solo effort.

In the final quarter Hornets took the lead again with a second try for Ewan and then after some excellent defending on their own try line, Hornets ran in a try the length of the pitch, Nathan Langdon passed to Bradley Lucas who spun it out to Ayden Chenoweth. He offloaded well in the tackle to Charlie Fairhurst to sprint in from his own half to put the game out of Wellingtons reach. Final score was 25-15 to Hornets.

The whole squad of Ayden Chenoweth, Kyle Goodwin, Eddie Williams, Mitchell Hawkes, Oscar Browne, Charlie Fairhurst, Reece Clarke, Luke Collins, Bradley Lucas, Nathan Langdon, Owen Brake, Ewan McComisky, Sebastian Wood, Ethan Loveridge and Jack Weaving all played well.

Sebastian Wood and Lockie Carver-Cox deserve a special mention for offering to step up and play for the Under-11s.