Seasiders recover from shock start

This was the first visit to The Rec by newly promoted Kingsbridge and they provided something of a shock as Weston's game got off to a poor start when Weston gathered the ball from the kick off and their attempted clearance kick was charged down and a try was scored by the Kingsbridge winger Isaac Rayworth, converted by Jones. Kingsbridge were in front but their lead only lasted 3 minutes as Weston woke up and took control of the game. In a rampaging opening half hour they scored tries wide out from wing Chris Young, a beauty from centre Harry Jones who sliced through the Kingsbridge defence, and from left wing Will Young. James MacKay was on form with the boot and made all 3 conversions. Weston pressure resulted in two penalties both put away by MacKay. The Weston forwards were dominant and Mike Hocking touched down on the stroke of half time for the bonus point try under the posts after a series of forward drives. Weston turned round at half time with a commanding lead but will have felt that they could have scored more had their play been more clinical.
The second half opened as the first had with Weston slightly on the back foot as Kingsbridge moved the ball wide for Rayworth to score his second. Jones converted but Weston's dominance was soon on show again despite being down to 14 men for much of the half when full back Chapman was yellow carded for impeding a Kingsbridge player. Shortly after Weston were restored to 15 men Tom Hocking (replacing brother Mike at hooker)was unfortunate to be sent to the sin bin for an infringement at a ruck, the team's third offence at the breakdown. Weston had fumbled a few clear cut chances but they had plenty of possession and they scored tries through Will Young, scoring his second, Robbie MacKay (on as replacement for Chapman) as he picked up on a neat pass from Chris Youngs following his interception and 80 metre sprint for the line. The final score was touched down by scrum half Bennett after the Weston forwards had driven for the line.
Despite running out 53-14 winners Weston will want to improve their handling and their performance in the contact area where they gave away too many penalties. They will feel that they could have scored many more tries and will want to up their game next week when they visit Newent who are likely to provide a much sterner test than their visitors today

Saturday's game against Kingsbridge was a very special occasion for popular club member and stalwart second row Ash Russell who led the side out on the occasion of his 300th first team appearance for Weston. This is a very significant achievement in the modern era of league rugby.
Ash was born in Bristol and educated at Churchill school. Ash began his rugby with Weston in the under 8s and played in each age group of the junior section before playing in the senior side. He made his first team debut against Redruth in 2002. Despite playing almost all his games in "the boiler" Ash has scored 34 tries for the first team. Ash had been club captain in 2009-10 and was twice awarded player of the year in 2006 and 2009.
The club is proud of his achievement and wishes him well for the remainder of this season, and hopes he has many more caps to come.

Match report by Andrew Ballard, and photos courtesy of Andrew Collins