| Weston Hornets 19 - 12 Thornbury | |
| Comb. Cup, Tuesday 13 Oct 2009 | match photos |
| Selection | |||
| Forwards | Backs | ||
 | George Fensome Jnr Loose Head | | Stuart Adams Scrum Half |
| Nick Eames Hooker | | John Howells Fly Half |
| Adam Hodgkins Tight Head | | Steve Allington Left Wing |
| Giles Bristol Second Row | | Michael Gaston Inside Centre |
| James Murray Second Row | | Kevin Rudrum Outside Centre |
| Nick Balman Blindside Flanker | | Benjamin Guzman Right Wing |
 | Liam Pemberton Openside Flanker | | Jon Pullin Full Back |
| Rob Holloway Number Eight | ||
| Replacements | |||
 | Adam Tilley Forwards Replacement | | Cari Cumming Backs Replacement |
| Paul Collins Forwards Replacement | | Ryan Johnson Backs Replacement |
| Jordan Leo-Wright Forwards Replacement | ||
| Points Scorers | |||||
| Player | Tries | Cons | Pens | Drops | Points |
| Jon Pullin | 4 | 12 | Total | 4 | 12 |
| Man of the match | vote | |
 | Liam Pemberton has received the majority of the 1 votes that have been cast. | |
| Report |
| posted at 17:31 on Thursday 15 October '09 by Dave Fox |
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Hornets 19 Thornbury 12 It is a curious fact that the better team doesn’t always win a game of rugby. Despite monopolising territory and possession Thornbury failed to convert their dominance into points and crashed out of the Combination Cup to a workmanlike Hornets side that had played most of the game on the back foot. Thornbury selected a development side largely based on the second XV with a few inclusions. Stuart Adams, James Murray and Giles Bristol were the only players on duty that had participated in last Saturday’s win over Stroud whilst Hornets also chose a mix and match side which included five players that had faced Thornbury in the league ten days before. Thornbury selected several players who had not played for the firsts before or not for some time, and also welcomed back Adam Hodgkins, returning to the front row considerably sooner than thought likely following his back injury sustained in pre-season against Maesteg Celtic. In the unusual surroundings of the Portway Rugby Centre under floodlights Thorns kicked off and Hornets ran the ball back, slicing through the Thornbury defence with ridiculous ease for Ian Cullham to crash over in the corner with less than sixty seconds on the clock. The conversion missed but Thornbury already had a hill to climb. The Thornbury pack dominated from the first exchanges. The scrum went well, shredding the Hornets scrum on several occasions with both Adam Hodgkins and George Fensome giving their opponents a torrid time. The lineout went well initially with James Murray and Nick Balman winning clean ball almost at will. Both sides suffered the bi-product of selecting scratch sides by having difficulty stringing passes together. Passes went down or were thrown vaguely in the direction of a team mate, or where one aught to have been but after a first quarter of errors things settled down and with Kevin Rudrum in the vanguard of attacks Thorns had the upper hand. It seemed only a matter of time before Thornbury would score the first of a hatful of tries, however errors continued and a dropped ball on halfway was picked up by Jim Dibble who raced in to score between the posts, his conversion opening up a 12-0 lead rather against the run of play. Two soft tries behind, Thorns continued to battle up-field, Rudrum and Mike Gaston making ground from centre however there was a reluctance to pass the ball wide where Steve Allington waited patiently. Whether he was being penalised for wearing a Scottish Rugby union tracksuit before the game is unclear but such folly on his part may force him to rethink his match-day wardrobe. Midway through the first half Jon Pullin pulled a penalty just wide but made amends shortly afterwards. Thornbury tails were up and John Howells was beginning to cut holes in the Hornets defence but these breaks came to nothing. Pullin kicked over two further penalties to see Thorns training 12-9 at half time. Nine minutes after the restart Pullin kicked his fourth penalty and the scores were tied, however Hornets were still leading in the eyes of the competition as they had scored more tries. Shortly afterwards, Allington was shocked to receive a pass but he made good ground but was bundled into touch five metres from the Hornets line. It transpired this was the closest Thorns would get to the line. A few minutes later Thorns chose not to attempt to kick a penalty just outside the Hornets ‘22’ but went for touch and a lineout in the corner. The lineout was a mess with the shortest man in the Hornets pack gathering it and clearing. Minutes after that George Fensome drove on through several players but in the process of looking for support lost the ball and Hornets cleared again. The Hornets defence was well organised and water-tight. This was the pattern of the game. Then Thorns brought on their replacements and some of the continuity that they had striven to build was lost and play began to be less controlled, allowing Hornets to come back into things. Ceri Cummings and Colstons schoolboy Jordan Leo-Wright came on for Ben Guzman and James Murray respectively, with Nick Balman moving to lock, then Adam Tilley came on for Fensome, Ryan Johnson for Pullin and Paddy Collins for Hodgkins. Then Stuart Adams went off with an injury and Pullin returned. Referee Rich Potterton clearly enjoyed his evening and allowed Thornbury eleven minutes of injury time to somehow snatch the victory they deserved. However Hornets finished on top and when Dibble crossed again for club captain Sam Lloyd-Jones to convert Potterton put everyone out of their misery by blowing for full time. Thornbury only had themselves to blame for not winning. They were significantly superior yet with the exception of Allington’s dash early in the second half never looked like scoring a try. They had the game’s most influential player in Liam Pemberton, who had a fine game with ball in hand and regularly robbed Hornets of possession. He provided good continuity to attacks and should be proud of his performance. In addition it was very pleasing to see Adam Hodgkins back and although it would be risky to play him against North Bristol on Saturday he should have a run out for the Seconds with a view to being available for first team selection the following week. Coach Gareth Llewellyn, along with Simon Weaver and the visiting Rob Higgitt, will have learnt a fair amount about some of the players on the field. Scorers: Thornbury: penalties – Jon Pullin (4) Hornets: tries – Jim Dibble (2), Ian Cullham; conversions – Dibble, Sam Lloyd-Jones Teams: Thornbury: Jon Pullin (c); Ben Guzman, Kevin Rudrum, Mike Gaston, Steve Allington; John Howells, Stuart Adams; George Fensome, Nick Eames, Adam Hodgkins, Giles Bristol, James Murray. Nick Balman, Liam Pemberton, Rob Holloway. Replacements – Ceri Cummings for Guzman, Jordan Leo-Wright for Murray, Adam Tilley for Fensome, Ryan Johnson for Pullin, Paddy Collins for Hodgkins Hornets: Nick Summers; Josh Partridge, Adam Vaughan, John Ferguson, Ian Cullham; Jim Dibble, Andy Ludd; Steve Donegan, Dan Whitford, Harry Nash, Ross Cheeseborough, Greg Speller (c), Ash Kingscott, Matt Parker. Replacements – Neil Chenoweth, Dave Martin, Rich West, Sam Lloyd-Jones Referee: Richard Potterton (Bristol Society) |