'D'ey Know' How Close We Came

Weston came so close to reversing the defeat to Gordano with a really spirited performance at a drizzly Gordano on Wednesday night. Having been soundly beaten by the hosts earlier in the season Weston knew that this would be a very difficult game. Gordano's backs had been outstanding in the first meeting and the work by their No7 in the loose had turned the ball over numerous times. The pack had worked hard on their support at the breakdown and were committed to the clear out. The opening 10 minutes were dominated by Weston who were going through the phases superbly and producing their best rugby of the season. Then disaster struck. A sloppy pass was intercepted and Gordano were away. The try was converted and Weston were 7 nil down. Normal service resumed with the Weston pack on top, but was being met with some solid defence by Gordano. The match swung one way and the other with Weston pushing hard to equalise. But a penalty deep in Gordano territory was run quickly and resulted in an excellent breakout try. Suddenly Weston were 12 points down in a game they were on top in. With a minute to go in the first half, Weston pushed again and some good pressure in the back line led to an error and allowed Stefan Thompson-Rose to intercept and just hold off the cover to score in the corner. Conversion missed and 12-7 at half time. Start to the second half was all important and again Weston got on the front foot driving deep into Gordanos 22. From a resulting penalty centre Hary Lewis crashed over to score Weston's second - game on. Then game then looked to have turned back in favor of the hosts. From a penalty they quickly tapped and went. Weston prop Sol Ward was a mile offside and his shoulder barge was quite rightly punished with a yellow card. Down to 14 for 10 minutes Weston had to dig deep and they did excellently. Holding out against the excellent Gordano backs was tough going but Weston stood fast. Then they made inroads into the Gordano half. A series of rucks saw Weston created space on the blindside which No 8 Liam Hynes spotted. When he was tackled he offloaded brilliantly to Jacob Cox who spun and crashed over for the best try of the night. Conversion fluffed but Weston had come back and now led 15-12. Knowing that Gordano would come again it was important to control things. A good take from the kick off should have been secured, but the Gordano pack had other ideas. They turned the ball over and a few moments later smashed through to retake the lead. Sol came back on and Weston went in search of a winner. Both teams had chances but neither could quite get over the line again. The second half came to an abrupt end when Weston kicked deep into Gordano's half, but this was in fact the final play and Gordano had held on. Fantastic game played by two well matched sides. Not even the rain and the rather pathetic comments made by one individual could detract from a great night's rugby. Weston look forward to seeing Gordano again next season.Pats on the back go to everyone involved tonight it was a great team effort. Rhys Langley gets the man of the match award after another solid performance.