Great Win v Hornets

Gordano RFC Under 16’s: 25 Weston Hornets RFC Under 16’s: 5

Gordano came into this home game against Hornets off the back of a disappointing cup loss to Chippenham. However, prior to kick off, there was a strong belief within the home camp that the Sharks could bounce back with a big performance against old rivals Hornets despite numerous injuries to key personnel including powerful winger Tom Peters (broken ribs) and to skipper Paul Manning (back problems).

Speaking before kick off the Hornets coach expressed his view that this season this powerful Gordano side were ones to be watched, and Gordano certainly didn’t disappoint in the opening exchanges of the game. Fielding a bruising complement of forwards, the home side were able to bully Hornets off the ball subsequently starving their well drilled back line of quality ball.

However, it was Hornets to get on the score sheet first. Following a series of well constructed phases by the Weston tight five deep within the Gordano half, the ball was released to the backs and shipped to the left side winger who was able to capitalise on a slip up by his opposite number to smartly score in the corner despite significant pressure by the covering defence. The resulting conversion was unsuccessful from a challenging position out wide.

If such an early score had a demoralising effect on the Gordano players they certainly didn’t show it, successfully turning further pressure into points with their first try of the game. After robust carries into the visitors 22 by the Clarke brothers, ample clean ball was produced for scrum-half Kaine Southey to pick out centre Olly Speakerman who was able to beat the disorganised defence to score out wide. Flyhalf Mike Dyer was denied two points by the woodwork, locking the teams at five points a piece.

It was the nuggety Gordano number 9 who orchestrated the home side’s next score, with a delicate chip into Weston’s 22 providing jumper Tom Mitchell to impose himself at the resulting line-out. Admirably, but ultimately foolishly, the visiting side chose to attempt to run the ball out of their 22. Sound Gordano defence got its reward when openside Pat Mayer was able to complete the damage initially caused by Southey and Mitchell by winning a penalty in a ruck directly in front of the sticks, which was slotted by Dyer.

Gordano then tightened their hold on the game by scoring just before the break. Barnstorming runs deep into Weston territory by James Walker and Harry Ashwin were then followed up by a carry from short by prop Ben Clarke. Aided by the rest of the pack, Clarke forced his way over bringing the score up to 13-5.

A second Speakerman try swiftly followed the break. Once again class work up front was the basis for the score, with the hard yards being made by Cundick and Ashwin. Fine interplay between the likes of centre Jordan Slapper and fullback Adam Weavers was clinically finished by Speakerman under the posts, Dyer turning the score into a seven pointer and putting some distance between the teams at 20-5.

The addition of impact substitutions was evident in the later stages of the game, with players such as Liam Roberts, operating from blindside flanker, and newboy wing Tom Nock finding ever growing cracks in the tiring Hornets defence. Such a crack was exploited by fullback Weavers, who capped a fine personal performance with his team’s last try. Unfortunately the conversion was missed. It is safe to say that the score margin should have been much greater, with Gordano missing more than four opportunities to capitalize on overlaps but having to settle with the final score of 25-5.

In terms of man of the match, the honours went to Adam Clarke. This was partly on behalf of the whole pack’s performance who overshadowed their Weston opponents in both skill and power. However, the powerhouse prop also had a quality personal game and was destructive in both the scrums and around the park. Harry Ashwin was also talismanic, putting his body on the line on several occasions to make sure he got his side over the game line. In the backs the relatively new faces of Speakerman and Weavers gave Gordano’s backline a dynamic edge with the ability to finish the opportunities that the likes of Southey, Dyer and Slapper tend to create. With Whitehall at home next week Gordano will now want to progress and develop on today’s performance by producing another convincing win.

Gordano from: Adam Weavers, Nick Golledge, Olly Speakerman, Jordan Slapper, Joel Seager, Mike Dyer, Kaine Southey, Ben Clarke, Jack Cundick, Adam Clarke, Tom Mitchell, James Walker, Dan Reeder, Pat Mayer, Harry Ashwin
Substitutes: Connor Sheppard, Tom Derrick, Reece Williams, Liam Roberts, Conal Davidson, Tom Nock