Weston U15's 29 - 33 Old Reds RFC

Weston Under 15's played their first home game of the season after the luck of the draw with cup fixtures sending them away so far.

It was a significant game for all players, coaches and parents with this being the last game for prop Will Mathieson who is sadly leaving to move to Australia with his family.

The game started off at a great pace and great commitment by both sides at the rucks with plenty of controlled agression and passion. Weston were first to score after great rucking by the forwards saw full back Ewen Kennedy go over in the corner. This woke up the opposition who scored within 5 minutes of conceding after a couple of missed tackles and disorganisation in the Weston defence. This made it 5-7 to Old Reds but again the team came back and proved how well they had taken on the defence session they had done the previous week with enthusiasm and willingness to give the opposition no space to run being a joy to watch.

It was this defence that created a try for centre George Pengelly Powell to go over to make it 12-7 and this was increased straight from the resultant kick off with prop Will Mathieson catching and running from 22 to 22 only to be tackled with then pick and goes from the support of Dan Bosworth leading to again Will Mathieson picking up and diving over for a fairytale try which he celebrated with enthusiasm. The conversion was kicked by Tom Davison leaving the score at half time Weston 17 v 7 Old Reds.

The second half started like the first with it played at a frantic pace with Old Reds coming out firing and playing a well planned tactical game of kicking behind the Weston defence and making the team run it back. Weston struggled to deal with this and were shell shocked by conceding 3 tries and conversions in the space of 15 minutes to leave the score 17-28 to Old Reds.

Weston were able to make a number of substituitions with a squad of 23 to choose from and this gave a freshness to the team which saw them get back to what had been good in the first half and again they were rewarded with a try for Jake Harper which was converted by Jake Grimes to leave the score 24-28.

Sadly Weston could not hang on and again pressure from the stronger players of Old Reds led them to scoring with 10 minutes to go but again Weston did not lie down and admit defeat and were rewarded with a try for wing Jay Riley.

It was a fitting end to an entertaining game of rugby and enjoyed by a passionate crowd from both sides. Weston will be left to rue the fist 15 minutes of the second half but again can be proud as only last year they lost to Old Reds 62-10. They are improving with every game and with the squad at 26 there is now competition for places and a real willingness to support eachother and be the best they can be.