28th October 2017 Brixham 42 Hornets 17
Three wins in a row have lifted Brixham from the bottom of the league table into the top half. The visitors from Weston have also had a poor start to the season and were keen to improve their position also.
Brixham had the better of the opening exchanges keeping the Hornets penned into their own half. On the ten minute mark Brixham pressed close to the try line and forced a scrum five metres out.
Number 8 Sam Thomas peeled off the scrum to touch down with little opposition and centre Tom Putt added the conversion.
Tom McLean was denied a try after he recovered a Putt chip over the defence and ran clear; the referee had evidently spotted something wrong! However he did go back to a penalty for Brixham which set up an attacking spell close to the Hornets line,
Prop Dominic Connor rounded off five phases of forward drives by crossing for a try.
The restart brought an immediate resumption of Brixham offense. Hooker Koree Britton received it and made good yards before offloading. Centre Tom McLean made further territory and Connor took the ball into the 22 before being brought down. The ball was recycled quickly and passed out for lock Shek Sheriff to cross the line in the Mudstone corner.
Hornets struck back immediately. An attack down the right was halted but when the ball went crossfield they had an overlap and a simple try.
The Brixham response was just as immediate. An attack down the left was halted just short of the line but released quickly to fly-half Martin Worthington who slipped through the disorganised defence to dot down under the posts.
Four tries (all converted by Tom Putt) meant that Brixham had a bonus point within 30 minutes.
In the time remaining in the first half there was no further scoring though when lemons time arrived it was Hornets looking for a score.
Hornets had the slope adavantage for the second half but their start was disappointing. The kick off was collected by Sheriff who set off upfield brushing off tackles until we was taken down just inside the 22. The ball spun swiftly to the right where McLean burst through and offloaded to full-back Tom Goodman who scored a try, converted by Putt.
Within five minutes Hornets had their second score when a period of attacking phases ended with their flyhalf drifting through the Brixham net for a converted try.
As the second half progressed both sides had their attacking spells but added nothing to the score. Ten minutes from time the visitors’ hopes were raised with their third try. If they were to lose at least a fourth try would earn them a bonus point.
Before they could even mount an attack Brixham had increased the lead with their sixth; Tom McLean bursting through the centre to secure it. Putt was again successful with the conversion.
Hornets never gave up but found the Brixham defence in a mean mood and no thing else troubled the scorers.