Sat 27 Sep 2025, 15:00
Hornets Had A Sonny Day At The Nest.
The Nest was packed on Saturday as Hornets welcomed high flying joint Nat 2 West league leaders Cinderford and in a high quality entertaining game bagged another 5 points in a superb all round display to send the visitors back to the Forest of Dean with a single try bonus point and they slip behind star studded Camborne who now have opened up a 4 point lead at the top and Hornets currently sit in joint 5th place.
Prior to the game the Clubhouse was packed, as another well attended lunch was hosted by James Carter. It had a golf theme due to the current Ryder Cup and a guest speaker and after a nosebag and a drink all went to watch Sonny Haines lead the team out on the occasion of his 150th Cap. A huge milestone for a local legend in the area as Sonny has played over a period of many seasons with a sabbatical or 2 in between. Everyone at Hornets thank Sonny for his enormous presence in the front row and look forward to many more in the future.
Last season on Cinderford's visit the game ended in a draw and when Hornets went to the Forest came away with an emphatic win and so a close, hard fought game was what everyone was expecting and these 2 teams did not disappoint as the game unfolded.
Hornets led out by Haines started the better and were causing a threat and probably should of scored early but for a knock on but it wasn't long until Hornets dominance paid rewards. Cinderford were attacking just inside Hornets half but the ball was dropped by them and Ayden Chenoweth was first to react and chipped the ball forward followed by another kick on by Connor Vickery and with James Murray in pursuit. The scrum half showed his pace as he outrun the visitors full back to score a great opportunist try converted by Jack Gapper and 13 minutes played 7-nil.
Cinderford with their talisman Jake Polledri at no.8 was a threat but the defence was sound and Cinderford began to get frustrated and Hornets were growing in confidence.
Hornets, now on the front foot and the impressive Alex Hawkins made a break from a ruck followed up by quick hands and at the next ruck ever alert skipper Kieran Ward spotted weak defence and sauntered to the line from the 22 under the posts and Gapper did the honours again 14-nil.
With 2 minutes left in the half and the Hornets supporters were happy to go into the break in a good position but this team had other ideas as their youth and experienced mix allowed the best try of the day when young Owen Griffith surged down his flank and he linked up with another youngster in Joachim Hullah who cleverly off loaded to experienced centre Connor Vickery to score a superb sucker-punch score right on halftime and again Gapper was accurate with the kick and Hornets went into the break was an unassailable lead. 21-nil.
Cinderford had a very productive halftime chat as they came out with higher intensity and vigour and in the first 9 minutes of the second half had scored 2 well taken tries and they sensed a comeback.21-14.
However, just 4 minutes later and Hornets were just inside Cinderford's half and a scrum, which was solid all day allowed Corey Baker to break and he surged and offloaded to his scrum half Murray who turned on the afterburners and surged to and over the line to snuff out any comeback for the time being.26-14.
Both benches now were being emptied and fresh legs on both sides and Cinderford again through power and pace got another 2 tries and so a bonus point and was the comeback on again? 26-24.
The simple answer to the comeback was no, as after a series of runs and a couple of Hornets penalties the forwards were on the visitor's line and when Hawkins collected the ball it was his co-prop and 150th cap player Haines who pushed him over and the kick was successful by Carter and a 2 score advantage and 7 minutes left 33-24.
Hornets in seasons gone by might of struggled to see the game out but this is a new generation and very efficiently not only kept Cinderford out but almost got another of their own but time ran out and the final whistle was greeted by an effervescent crowd. Final Score Hornets 33 Cinderford 24.
This now closes out the first month of the season and Hornet's best ever start at this level winning 3 out of the 4 played as they now look forward to October and the exciting visit to Luctonians in Herefordshire who are 1 point above Hornets in the League as they continue to represent the town of Weston super Mare on the National stage and are loving every minute of it.
