Somerset Cup

Weston-super-Mare 43, Bridgwater & Albion 20

A FLURRY of late tries saw Bridgwater sink to a 43-20 defeat to local rivals Weston in the Somerset Cup, writes Tony Pomeroy.

Tries from Ollie Dunn and Ali Blundell, together with ten points from Chris Ashwin, saw Bridgwater match their National League opponents blow for blow in the early exchanges but Weston pulled away late on to book their place in the next round.

On a lovely day for rugby, Weston kicked off, the ball was caught by a leaping Bridgwater player who was tackled in the air by home flanker Joe Pullin, who was yellow carded after only 10 seconds.

Bridgwater took the lead after three minutes when Chris Ashwin was on target with a penalty following a Weston offside.

James Martin was prominent in attack with a couple of good breaks of over 30m each, but both proved fruitless.

With the referee playing advantage, Stu Heal was wide with an opportunist dropped goal attempt but Ashwin doubled Bridgwater's lead from the resulting penalty.

Weston then began to work their way into the game and fly-half Iain Chisholm was wide with a 45m penalty attempt and then centre Sylvan Edwards went close to a try with a good break.

From the resulting scrum, Weston drove over the Bridgwater line and number eight, Shaun Eaton, got an unconverted try.

On the stroke of half time, Weston took the lead - a penalty deep into the Bridgwater 22 set up a good platform and from the resulting line-out, Weston produced an unstoppable drive, giving the home side a 12-6 interval lead.

Joe Bussell and Matt Hastie replaced Tew and Knight at the interval and, from the kick-off, Weston ran the ball back at Bridgwater.

With the visiting defence all at sea, centre Harry Jones scythed through the defence before handing on to full-back Ross Bennett who scored an unconverted try in the corner.

A penalty to five metres gave the visitors a good position but Weston held firm and moved play to their 22.

Hastie gathered a loose ball and fed skipper Ollie Dunn, who appeared to have been stopped but he had other ideas and, suddenly, having escaped from the home defence, appeared with the ball deep in the Weston 22.

His path to the line was clear and he scored under the posts, giving Ashwin an easy conversion.

Chisholm then missed a simple penalty for Weston, the ball hitting a post.

Weston began to refuse goal kicks, opting for scrums instead as their forwards were looking strong.

Edwards again crossed the Bridgwater line but could not ground the ball.

After a series of penalties to Weston, the referee lost patience with Bridgwater and the inevitable result was a penalty try converted by Young, who had earlier replaced Tuttiett.

It was then Bridgwater’s turn for a forward drive and Ali Blundell got the touchdown, converted by Ashwin.

With the score at 24-20 into the final quarter, it was anybody’s game.

The final minutes belonged totally to the home side – Edwards finally got his try, converted by Young, then Jones scored an unconverted try in the corner before the final try, scored and converted by Young when Bridgwater had a clearing kick charged down.

The final score of 43-20 was perhaps a little harsh on Bridgwater but they were competitive to the end.

l Next week, Bridgwater travel to Matson.

North Petherton, who were without a game, visit Ivybridge.