Old Redcliffians 26 Weston Utd 46

Weston Utd made it three wins in a row with a bonus point victory over long standing adversary's Old Reds on their own patch.
Weston lost the toss and had to play down the slope with the wind at their backs and were soon in front when leading try scorer Mike McCarthy added to his seasons haul with a well taken opener. Reds hit back straight away to level things but with Westons pack in dominant form Weston elected to scrum at every penalty and it was from one such set piece that number eight James Matthews controlled the ball to the line before touching down. Fly half Archie Tilsley adding the extras. Weston scored once more before half time when blindside flanker Ben Cox found space on the wide left to cross making the score 17-5 at half time.
Playing up the slope into the breeze in the second half Weston may have suspected a hard forty minutes but the Utd are made of sterner stuff these days and with replacement flanker Billy Kirk outsprinting the covering defence soon after the restart Weston secured their bonus point. The hosts hit back with a converted try but soon after prolific skipper Chris Young cut a line from full back to cross for Tilsley to add the extras.
Then came the moment of the match when scrum half Dan Press broke taking several defenders with him before producing a George Greganesque reverse pass to put put McCarthy in under the posts. Tilsley converted but couldn't repeat the feat after Young scored his second. Reds scored a couple more to gain their losing bonus point but it was fitting that young left wing Henry Cox rounded off the scoring when outpacing the defence.
A hugely encouraging display by Weston in which the scrum was rock solid even after the loss of corner stone Steve Donegan after thirty five minutes. Rich Ford was a more than capable replacement. The Hocking boys were up for it all afternoon and locks Sam Light and Ross Chesher put a shift in.
However it was the back row once again who shone with Ben and Jacob Cox again exceptional along with Matthews and replacement flanker Billy Kirk.
Press and Tilsley had solid afternoons and centres Rich Muskett and Cameron Maslen again played well as a pair. Wings McCarthy and Cox worked hard and Young is a tremendous leader by example. Ford made a welcome return and replacement lock Ed Hunt was effective when brought into the fray.
Weston Utd have their next fixture on Friday 18 March at 7.30pm when they entertain close rivals and promotion chasers Burnham. It should be a cracker.