Weston edge home in Friday night thriller

In front of a very large and vociferous crowd Weston and local rivals Clevedon produced a pre Christmas cracker of a game that had all the elements of a great yuletide movie. Excitement Drama and a nail biting finish.

Weston kicked off into the wind and were soon under intense pressure from a Clevedon side who were buoyed from being on a five game winning streak.The home sides defence held firm and after Weston turned over the visitors scrum they span the ball and a superb long range pass from centre Kirk Middlemiss put left wing Matthew Watkins away for a tremendous try which was converted by Fly half Dan Lomax.

There were no further additions to half time but straight from the restart Clevedon hit back when a sweeping handling move put Harley Foley over. The conversion was missed and when the visitors were don to fourteen men Lomax added a penalty to add to the hosts lead. Weston then had their usual mid game wobble when Owen Biggins was on the end of a storming passage of play which Will Carpenter converted to put the visitors ahead. They increased their lead through Aaron Rice and it looked like Westons defensive frailties had once again been exposed.

However they regrouped and in a exciting finish Watkins added a second before tremendous forward pressure led to the referee awarding a last minute penalty try which Lomax converted to give Weston players and supporters some optimism for the new year.

Weston who were superbly led by stand in skipper Andrew Glen again had their forwards contribute a powerful performance with props Ollie Streeter and Rich Ford plus hooker Mike Hocking to the fore. The back row of Crossman, Johnston and number eight Paul Morrissey performing for the first time together can be pleased with their efforts. Ross Bennett playing at scrum half for the concussed Tuttiett, brought some nouse to that position and with the return of Middlemis.s the midfield looked more secure. The big bonus of the night was to see Watkins back to some vintage try scoring form.

This performance bodes well for the new year and if Weston can get at least see some of their more experienced injured players back then competition for starting places may provide the springboard for a successful second half of the season.