Derby day defeat ends Cup hopes

Clevedon Under 14's made the short trip down the M5 to tackle the Hornets on a glorious sunny morning that provided a welcome relief from the deluge of the last 48 hours. The rain left the pitch heavy in places but perfectly playable and a good sized crowd joined the players in marking a two minute silence in Remembrance at 11am. Lest we forget...

Nerves were apparent both on the pitch and the side lines as Hornets kicked off this eagerly anticipated BJC Cup clash. Having won so many games so handsomely this season but suffered such a disappointing loss at Clifton, this was clearly going to be a real test of character and a measure of the progress that the boys have made.

Hornets immediately looked the well drilled and physical side they are with some outstanding athletes in certain positions. But the Clevedon lads more than held their own in the early exchanges with the pack even shunting back the opposition on more than one occasion at scrum time.

There was no sign of the free flowing rugby of recent weeks as two competitive sides traded attritional blow for blow with neither making any dangerous foray into the opposition 22 in the first quarter of the game. Some strong Clevedon pressure after 16 minutes led to a penalty award 25 metres out and Ethan Thomas strode forward to continue his recent fine kicking form with a sweet strike to put the boys 3-0 up.

This fascinating half continued in similar vein until Hornets began to make ground through the strong running combination of their numbers 15, 12 and 8 with the latter making a huge nuisance of himself at just about every lineout. Just before half time a period of concerted pressure from the home side saw a clever dummy from the scrum half free up space and he scampered in under the posts to make the most of the opportunity. The conversion followed and Hornets went into the break 7-3 up.

The boys continued to work tremendously hard in the second half but couldn't come to grips with the referee's interpretation at the breakdown and penalty after penalty followed which denied any chance of momentum being built. In addition, Hornets started to build a real head of steam and it was a pleasure to watch the hard working defence of the boys keep such a strong side at bay whilst also bottling their frustration at the growing penalty count.

However, the pressure was to tell with two second half tries putting the home side 19-3 up with a handful of minutes left to play. Most impressively, at this point, not a single head went down and it was Clevedon that finished strongly. From a scrum in the Hornets 22, McKenzie Poulter sniped down the blind side and squeezed in at the corner for a fine try.

Then, with the final play of the game, a clever kick from Thomas into space was latched onto by Luke McLaughin who fly hacked the ball forward and was only denied a try by a desperate last ditch defensive effort.

A great effort from all in the match day squad and a sound display from the lads in trying circumstances. It was not the most of fluid days for the backs who appeared too static at times in the face of a swift defensive line but this was exactly the sort of game that the boys needed and will benefit all involved far more than some of the 60 and 70 point victories of recent weeks.

Finally, hearty congratulations to Hornets who we wish the very best of luck to in the next round of the competition.