Hornets' Senior men held their end of season awards at the Club on Friday night to celebrate the most successful season ever at the Nest.
The Clubhouse was packed full of players, committee, matchday staff and supporters who sat down for a meal before the awards were presented.
Just before the proceedings the whole Club broke out into applause as the 9 players who had represented Somerset in the County Championship in Redruth against Cornwall returned in time for the celebrations.
First up to present the awards was Director of the minis and juniors, Ben Millsom, who also looks after the 3rds and 4ths. He thanked the players for their efforts this season and announced that the 4th XV will be entered into the RFU Leagues for the next season as regular rugby for this team as the demand for this is evident in the availability of players. He announced that the 4th XV player of the year was Steve Coggins.
Ben then moved onto the 3rds who had a very successful season in the league finishing 4th playing 18 games winning 10 and losing 8 but the season was finished off as this team were crowned Somerset Vase Champions in a tough Final at Chard against Castle Cary who were league runners up. Then Ben turned to the awards to the team, and player’s player was Eion Austen and player of the Year was Bryn Solomon. He thanked everyone and said he was excited at looking forward to run the 4ths next season in the league.
Next up was the 2nd XV and the awards were presented by coaches Mark Millman and Paul Sheppard. In a double act they reflected on the past season as was hugely successful and they finished runners up in the league behind Old Reds 2nds, They played 22 won 18 drew 1 and lost 3, the 2nds scored a total of 1147 points thanks to Quentin Querl who scored 29 tries which was one of the highest in the country and Jordan Humphris who scored 234 points. They touched on the fact that this team were entered into the Somerset Cup for the first time as Hornets 1st XV are not allowed anymore due to their league position. In a pool competition the super twos beat Wellington 1st team but were unsuccessful against a very strong Weston RFC team who went on to be Somerset Cup winners despite only just avoiding relegation in the league. The 2s will look forward to locking horns with Weston 2nds again next season in the league and also Chew Valley 2nds who pushed Weston all the way in the Cup Final. Milky and Sheps then handed out the awards, this year the player’s player was presented to 3 players as the vote was a dead heat and they were Jordan Humphris, Dexter Nettleton and Kieron Crowley. The player of the Year was awarded to Quentin Querl.
Head coach Jack Gadd then was up to speak about the 1st XV, he reflected on the season and what a great success it was as playing at level 4 for the first time ever and to remain in this league for next season was a huge success. Hornets Played 26, won 6 and lost 20 but thanks to losing bonus points and try scoring points which added up to 22 points was one of the reasons for their league status and next season will be looking to convert some of those losing games into wins as this year the team of coaches will be a lot more prepared for the challenge during pre-season. Special mention to Charlie Carter who was the top points scorer in the Nat 2 West league with 187 points. Jack and Jon Richardson will again head up this team going forward to next year and have already been working on the strengthening of the squad and announcements of some very exciting signings will be announced in the near future. We say goodbye to Josh Lloyd who is returning to his boyhood Club Dings next season and Rob Dempsey who is retiring to Cornwall! As a thank you to Dempo he was presented with a framed no.13 shirt from his teammates, all at Hornets thank them for their service to the Club and wish them both best of luck for the future.
The rest of the squad have committed to next season despite the attempts from a local Club trying to lure some players away.
Jack then turned to the awards and thanked the 44 players that put on a 1st XV shirt this year and said that the effort by each and every one was outstanding, and they proved that with a little bit of extra effort Hornets can kick on in this league.
Jack presented player’s player to Connor Vickery and the player of the year was Finley Davis, which for this young player was a huge achievement.
Jack thanked his Director of Rugby Jon Richardson and everyone involved from the Coaches, Committee, the backroom staff and all who run the Club on a day-to-day basis and is looking forward to doing it all again starting in mid-June for pre-season training.
