Warm up for Cup as Clevedon run riot

A pleasant morning, the pleasant surroundings of Keynsham Rugby Club and a brand spanking new kit provided the backdrop for the boys fourth outing of the season and they can reflect on a job well done as they maintained their 100% record in style.

The numbers in the Clevedon squad were significantly down on the previous weekend after a number of injuries and withdrawals but the front row was at full strength with Max, Harry and Lewis going on to provide their usual strong base and were ably supported by Adam and Kieran packing down behind them. The back row of Ben H, Monty and Dane were on top throughout the encounter whilst the new half back pairing of Ben Wilson and Rory performed admirably to release the free flowing three quarter line of Jonny, Luke, Harry and Liam with Luke Palmer his usual solid and reliable self at full back. With a number of substitutions made during the game, Jacob was able to play his part and contribute greatly towards the overall team effort.

Unfortunately, Keynsham were a depleted outfit and shorn of a large number of players which led to the game kicking off with only 14 players per side. The impact of this on the home side was apparent early on and before the 10 minute mark had arrived on the clock the visitors had raced into a 17-0 lead with three tries resulting from three powerful runs courtesy of Harry Lyon, Luke McLaughlin and Dane Richardson with Dane converting his own try. After 11 minutes Dane pounced on a defensive mistake for his second try and Harry Lyon then ran in a long range effort for his second try too, both tries excellently converted by Dane from wide angles.

A complete lack of communication from the resulting restart led to a simple Keynsham try under the posts which was converted to reduce the visitors lead to 31-7. Normal service was soon to resume though, Liam had been nursing a groin injury but ignored it to pounce for a try in the right hand corner and shortly afterwards Adam showed great strength and determination to barrel over the line and score in almost exactly the same spot.

The half time whistle therefore blew with Clevedon 41-7 up and brought an opportunity for Matt and the calamity kids (Mackenzie and Ethan) to bring on field some much needed refreshments. Liam's efforts in scoring his try unfortunately curtailed his outing at this point and he wasn't to reappear for the second half. But the reduction in personnel made little difference to the scoring as the young Seasiders carried on as they had left off.

Rory put in a lovely chip and chase to pick up his first try of the day and Monty followed suit within a minute with a barnstorming run down the right touchline which resulted in a try despite an excellent last ditch tackle from one of Keynsham's backs. 51-7 soon became 58-7 as Harry raced in for his hat-trick (Dane converted) before some neat footwork from young Lyon released Luke McLaughlin who sidestepped the last defender and raced in for his second try of the day. Dane again converted to take the score to 65-7 and it was Richardson who was to have the last word with two strong individuals runs leading to a brace of tries under the posts with both converted to leave him with a hugely impressive individual points tally of 34.

The boys have now won four out of four and rattled up 195 points in the process but with trips to Clifton in the Cup next weekend and Taunton later in the month it's clear that tougher tasks await around the corner. Equally, I'm sure we'll see a very different Keynsham side when they arrive at Coleridge Vale after Christmas with a full strength squad, many thanks to them for their hospitality today.