Hornets RFC

Hornets welcomed Redruth from deepest Cornwall for their first ever visit to the Nest and gave a good show but missed out by 5 tries to 3. 

Redruth last season just missed out on promotion and are in hot pursuit of winning the title this season and so Hornets knew they had to be on top form to compete. This is a very competitive league and the standard of rugby is very high and if you make a slight mistake you are punished. 

Hornets started well with good continuity but Redruth were soaking up the pressure and awaited their time to pounce which they did very efficiently, from a 5 metre lineout the Redruth scrum-half spotted a small gap and sailed over followed by the conversion. 0-7. 

Hornets had a lineout on halfway but the ball was spilt in the resultant maul and before you could blink Hornets were behind their line watching another conversion by Redruth as the visitors were playing outstanding quality rugby.0-14 

5 minutes later and Hornets were on the attack when while trying to set the backs off Jamie Elswood was intercepted by the scrum half who appeared to everyone except the ref and his officials to maybe off been in front of the back foot but alas play on and the scrum half was quick enough to round the posts for an easy conversion.0-21 

Hornets were attempting to play the rugby they know they can but just couldn't get a foothold and a slip up with an overthrow in a lineout and Redruth punished the mistake with another 7 pointer.0-28 

Hornets now were looking at a hammering unless they could settle down and attack, which they did. 

From a lineout on halfway perfectly collected by the ever-improving Fin Davis set the backs up to attack and when centre Connor Vickery ghosted through he had the skill to round the full back and a well taken try warmed the hands of the large crowd converted by Charlie Carter 28-7 

While defending, Hornets centre Danny Bailey had to leave the field with what turned out to be a broken arm and Hornets had to regroup and settle again. H.T 7-28. 

Hornets knew they had to be on the scoresheet first as to give themselves a chance which they did after some superb forward interplay led to a Carter penalty.10-28 

Hornets now were on the front foot and a large number of penalties conceded by Redruth inside their 22 didn’t seem to justify a yellow card for persistent offences and Hornets were getting frustrated but kept their composure and eventually Carter slotted another penalty. 13-28. 

Hornets failed to collect the ball from the restart as the Redruth player seemed, to a number of people, to be in front of the kicker but the ref was happy with him and he was able to collect the ball and set up good ball for the visitors who managed to score.13-35. 

Something had happened during the scoring of the try as Redruth were penalised at the restart and so a penalty kick to Hornets. Elswood put the ball on the 22 and a perfect lineout again and huge effort from the pack and Hornets were steamrolling towards and over the line and Oscar Browne was the one who grounded the ball and another conversion by Carter.20-35. 

Hornets were able to bring on Dan Swaby, another youth player from Hornets for his first league game at level 4 and showed very good promise with some good carries and solid scrummaging. 

Hornets now were playing all the rugby and got deep inside the visitor's half when the ball was shipped at speed it was Ozzy James who had the pace to race over and gave Hornets hope converted by Carter.27-35 

With only seconds on the clock Hornets were deep inside their own 22 and attempted, with the last play of the game to get another try which could have brought 2 points but they huffed and puffed but the ref decided the ball was illegally being held in and so the last kick of the game went to Redruth as the shot at goal finished the game. Final Score Hornets 27 Redruth 38. 

Hornets showed in this game as in many others, that they are more than capable of playing in this league and are good enough to take on any opposition with a competitive game but they just have to stop giving away an easy lead which then means playing catchup. 

Hornets travel to play Loughborough University next week before the visit to the Nest of Stourbridge. 

All at Hornets would like to wish Danny Bailey a speedy recovery and wish him well. 

The Cheddar Spirit Co. Player of the match for a very strong performance in all areas was youngster Fin Davis