Under 14's march into County Cup semi final

Simply magnificent! A superbly committed performance from every member of the team led to a narrow victory against the estimable Hornets and a place in the semi-finals of the County Cup.

A cold morning with a biting artic wind greeted the boys (and shivering parents and supporters on the side lines) for the first game at The Vale in 2015. For Clevedon, a proud home record at stake against their very worthy opponents who had knocked the Seasiders out of the Bristol Combination plate in Weston earlier in the season on their way to winning the competition.

Clevedon started strongly playing against the wind and notched an early try with Dane showing great strength and sprinting over in the far corner. An attritional battle developed with neither side asking or giving a quarter. Hornets were always going to respond at some point and a well worked try halved the deficit after a spell of pressure deep in the Clevedon half. But, on the stroke of half time, a carbon copy effort from Dane in the far corner restored the home side’s 5 point advantage.

Into the second half and more of the same, an absorbing battle between two very committed sets of lads. Some tremendous interplay took Clevedon deep inside the Hornets half, a line break took them within metres of a score and some unselfish passing released Jamie Sandy to extend the lead to 15-5.

Back once again, as expected, came the Hornets with a tremendous try from Quentin at full back, evading numerous attempted tackles and showing great pace to power over the line. 15-10 with five to go. This Clevedon team then showed their growing maturity by ensuring that the rest of the game was played out in Hornets territory and a solid scrum and kick into touch heralded the referee's final whistle and scenes of celebration. Great credit to the Hornets boys for their reaction at the final whistle, showing huge disappointment but great sportsmanship to immediately congratulate their opponents.

Deliberately, the only boys mentioned above are the try scorers. Because this was very genuinely not a game for individuals, for long range tries or spectacular kicks. It was about a magnificent team effort and a tremendous desire not to be beaten. Every man put his heart into every tackle and had nothing left to give come the final whistle. With such a tight game, making wholesale substitutions was always going to be next to impossible and the subs who didn’t get on (plus the injured Rory) were great in their unstinting support of the boys on the park.

A real landmark victory for the boys who have now proved that they can genuinely ‘mix it’ with the traditional powerhouses of the region at this age group. Our semi final opponents will be North Petherton at some point in February, details to be confirmed.

Coach John McGuigan: "Very proud of the boys today. A fantastic effort from the squad and not just those that played. We're now in the final four of the county and that's a great achievement."