Clevedon Rugby
Reports

Clevedon travelled to Weston for this eagerly awaited game. From the start both sides were pretty evenly matched with Clevedon having the edge in the scrum. Both sides tried to make their mark on the game and both sides attacked and defended well. However, on 24 minutes Hornets kicked the ball deep into Clevedon territory resulting in a handling error by Clevedon, which gave Hornets the advantageto gain the ball and advance to the try line.

Clevedon responded well and for a lengthy period of time Clevedon were camped out on the Hornets line. Four scrums with the Clevedon put in were not enough for Clevedon to take advantage, Joe Tucker was eventually released to go over the touch line and score, but the try was disallowed. The first half concluded with a 7-0 lead to Weston Hornets.

The second half continued in a similar vein to the first half. Clevedon creating lots of opportunities, but not able to finish them off. Decisions did not go their way nd Clevedon remained committed to the final whistle.

Clevedon traveled to Saracens where the home team, a mixture of under 14s & 15s, put three tries and conversions on the board before Clevedon's Ben Williams ran one in wide out. Converted by Kieran Hill.

Saracens scored another just before the whistle taking the half time score to 26-7.

During the second half Clevedon put up a brave fight, but were overwhelmed by the extra size and experience of the opposition who added another 4 tries to their total.

This match was played under lights. Clevedon took the opportunity to take the whole squad to Saracens. At first, Clevedon appeared to struggle against a larger pack and Saracens were the first to score. Clevedon responded well with a try from Kieran Harris. Tom Francis converted. Tom then scored a try of his own, which again he converted. Final try of the first half came from Matt Vicarage.

Saracens were by no means finished and responded with two well taken tries from their centre. Bringing the half time score to 19-19.

Clevedon dominated most of the second half, but lacked the finishing touches. However, Clevedon were awarded a penalty for their efforts, which was converted by Tom Francis . In the final play of the game some confusion from the Saracen defence left the ball available for a touchdown by Johnny Hicks.

This match was played at Chippenham RFC. From the start both sides were evenly matched, after 10 minutes Clevedon were unfortunate to go behind from a Frampton penalty.

Clevedon responded with a well taken try from Freddie Knight, but again Frampton responded with a try of their own. Clevedon responded well with a very similar try to the first one, again by Freddie Knight and a conversion by Tom Francis. Half time arrived with a score of 14-10 to Clevedon.

Again the second half was very evenly balanced with both teams competing for possession. Frampton added another further try. Clevedon then missed a penalty. Joe Tucker broke loose to score a fine try to put Clevedon in the lead 19-15 with eight minutes to go. There was a final onslaught from Frampton who scored two tries in the last four minutes to come out winners 19-29.

Clevedon will learn from this experience as they focus on the semi- final of the Somerset cup.

The first 5 minutes was all Clevedon's but St Mary's opened the score with two tries and a conversion. Clevedon stepped up a gear and pulled a try back when Ben Williams ran one in, converted by Kieran Hill.

Will Mathias ran another into the corner levelling the score. St Mary's responded with another converted try. Clevedon's Hill dropped a goal shortly followed by a great try by Luke Gardiner, again kicked by Hill, taking Clevedon into the lead at half time 22 to 19.

With 9 fresh players in the second half St Mary's dominated the play despite the tired Clevedon boys not giving up. They added 5 tries and 2 conversions bringing them a win by 26 points.

Clevedon travelled to Dings and unleashed a fantastic start with the first try within a minute by Joe Ford, the next followed quickly, a stunning try right out on the wing by Tom Brown. Clevedon continued to rack up the score adding 4 more tries in the half to Matt Fisher, Dan Jones, Christian Lloyd and Rhys Davies. Two conversions were kicked by Kieran Hill taking Clevedon's half time score to 34-0.

The second half added further tries by Jones and Fisher. Cameron Maslen and Luke Maidment also scored, again two conversions were well kicked by Hill. A great performance boys.

Clevedon win the cup by 4 tries to 3

St Mary's Old Boys RFC was the neutral venue for the Final of the U17 Bristol Combination Cup. The two finalists, Clevedon and the Bath based Walcot, have over the years contested a number of close games and this one proved to be the closest of them all. Both teams travelled with depleted squads due to injury and College commitments, but this did not diminish the spectacle of Youth Rugby that was to follow.

From the kick off both sides tried to attack at every opportunity, to be countered by strong defence. Walcot secured the first points with a penalty in front of Clevedon's posts. Clevedon were quick to counter, Fly-half Dom Hanley produced an inch perfect kick out of defence. Clevedon then won the line-out against the throw, from which Clevedon produced a quick precise cross field move to the left wing, Luke Prior, who scored Clevedon's first try that was duly converted. Nine minutes of play and Clevedon in the lead 7-3.

The game then flowed back and forth, neither side able to find the decisive move to cross the try line until the 31st minute, when scrum-half Joe Tucker was able to receive the ball from the forwards and slip between the defenders to score. Walcot, kept the pressure on Clevedon up to half time, with Clevedon conceding two penalties, within kicking distance of the posts, but Walcot were only able to score once. The half-time score was 12-6 to Clevedon, but the try count was 2-0 to Clevedon.

Walcot came out for the second half determined to close the gap. The first 20 minutes was played in Clevedon's half with wave after wave of Walcot attacks repulsed by the Clevedon team. Shuddering tackles were made on the Walcot attackers. However, eventually Walcot were able to intercept a Clevedon pass and score a try under the posts, which gave Walcot the lead by one point, but Clevedon were still leading by 2 tries to 1.

There then followed the many changes to the lead over the last 15 minutes of the game. Joe Tucker managed to squeeze his way over and score his second. Walcot's forwards then scored a push-over try that was converted, so Walcot then lead 20-17.

However, within minutes Dom Hanley scored a drop goal, to level the score. Walcot then responded with another converted try from a scrum in Clevedon's half. Walcot leading by 7 point with only minutes to spare.

Clevedon responded to the challenge, with Mike Winter joining the backs at pace from full-back to jink past the Walcot defence to touch-down close to the posts. Dom Hanley kept his nerve and scored the conversion to tie the score and the referee blew the full time whistle.

The rules of the competition are that in the event of a tie, the side scoring the greater number of tries wins. Clevedon won by 4 tries to 3.

This is the third year the squad have appeared in a local final and have now won two of the three. Their loss in the Somerset Cup last year has made them eligible for the National Plate Competition and they play their Divisional semi-final on 20 March. The opponent, venue and kick off time have yet to be decided.

Clevedon travelled to Walcot for this much awaited game.

Clevedon took time to settle and gave away an early penalty. Clevedon soon regrouped and found their way using their dominating forwards.

Clevedon were rewarded with a penalty, which was missed but then knocked on by a Walcot player, rewarding Clevedon with a scrum close to the Walcot line.

Joe Tucker was able to feed the scrum, collect and go over the line for Clevedon's first try. Clevedon continued to dominate and after a few setbacks in the set play, Joe Tucker went over the line again for a second try, followed by a conversion by Tom Francis.

As half time approached Jake Redman made a break down the blind side to score with a conversion again by Tom Francis to give Clevedon a healthy lead at half time. Walcott 6 -19 Clevedon.

Clevedon came out for the second half all fired up, good work between backs and forwards resulted in Joe Tucker going over for his third try for the match.

Clevedon then lost their momentum and let Walcot back into the game with two break away tries. Clevedon did enough to hang on and were unlucky not to score again.

Man of the match Joe Tucker. Clevedon are now through to the Somerset cup semi-final.

Clevedon played host to Drifters RFC, who play their rugby in Buckinghamshire, in the Quarter Finals of the South West Division of the RFU National Plate Competition. The game that followed was a tribute to the skill and determination of two teams in the top eight of U17 teams in the south-west.

Clevedon made a quick start and soon had 5pts on the board within the first five minutes of the kick-off with Mike Winter joining the backs from full-back to score by running down the left wing. Clevedon continued the pressure from the re-start, eventually leading to a penalty awarded in front of the Drifters posts from which Dom Hanley scored the penalty goal. This was quickly followed by another Clevedon try scored by centre Tom Pinder close to the left hand corner flag after fellow centre Luke Blizzard broke through the Drifters defence. Drifters then started to fight back and scored their own try after a cross filed move, touching down on the right hand corner. Clevedon's first half scoring soon resumed with Will Richardson playing out of position on the Wing rather than as Flanker, muscling in for a try. The half time score being 20-5 in favour of Clevedon.

Clevedon came under a lot of pressure at the start of the second half and were beaten back to their line, only for the pressure to be relieved by indiscipline by Drifter with a player being 'sin binned' for tackling a Clevedon player when they were in the air. Dom Hanley produced a huge kick into touch moving play half way up the field. Soon after Joe Tucker playing at scrum half produced a magical overhead kick under pressure for Will Richardson to pick up and run over for a try. With the score 27-5, Clevedon lost focus and allowed Drifters back into the game, by letting them score two converted tries, bringing the score to 27-19. Clevedon redoubled their efforts and started to dominate the last 10 minutes of play, keeping the ball and eventually exerting enough pressure for Will Richardson to score his third try of the game. Final Score 32-19 to Clevedon. The Divisional Semi-Finals will be played on 20 March, before that Clevedon U17 will be playing in the Final of the Bristol Combination Cup against the Bath based team Walcot on 13 March.

Clevedon visited Chew who opened the scoring with a quick try followed by two more, one converted. Clevedon fought back and Tom Lye scored narrowing the gap at half time. Lye scored again, converted by Kieran Hill. Chew scored and converted twice more leading to their final score of 31 to Clevedon's 12.

This match was always going to be an entertaining game with good quality rugby from two of the finest under 16’s team in Somerset. Clevedon were first to put their names on the score board with some good handling from backs and forwards releasing Freddie Knight to score in the corner. Keynsham came back with two well taken tries and a penalty to give them a half time lead of 5-15.

The second half saw Clevedon fight back with a lot of determination and commitment. This showed when good forward progress was made by the team releasing Nick Carpenter to touched down under the posts. From the restart Clevedon took the ball in hand, this time with Harry Sheppard using his strength and power to break the Keynsham defence for a superb try. By this time Clevedon were really in the driving seat. Deep down into Keynsham territory Nick Carpenter chipped the ball towards the wing where Freddie Knight collected and touched down.

Keynsham were determined to the end and never gave up and scored their own try in the final play of the game. A fantastic game to watch with rugby of the highest level.

Man of the match James Butler for superb commitment to tackling time after time.

Five minutes in, Bridgwater opened the score with a fine try down the left, duly converted. Clevedon's Matt Fisher narrowed the score with a try only for Bridgwater to put another past Clevedon. Just before half time Clevedon's winger Dan jones ran in a try, this being kicked by Kieran Hill leveling the score.

The second half saw the visitors take the lead with a try, but narrowly missed the conversion. Clevedon then went into the lead with a try by Ben Williams and a conversion by Hill. The visitors crossed the line, again taking the lead. Clevedon's final try by Jones secured Clevedon a narrow victory in this well matched contest.

Clevedon travelled to Lansdowne for this eagerly awaited second round match. Weather conditions were very challenging. Clevedon were fired up from the start, but unfortunately lost prop Jason Puddy within the first five minutes with a mouth injury.

He was replaced by Hallum Bosley. Clevedon took the game to Bath and dominated the majority of the first half. Bath were awarded a penalty, which was missed by the kicker. Shortly before half time Harry Sheppard broke the Bath defence line and scoredC levedon’s first try and a half time lead of five points.

The second half followed a very similar pattern, with Clevedon seeking opportunities to kick for touch deep in Bath territory and keeping Bath pinned down. There was the occasional break from Bath, but the Clevedon defence stood firm. With eleven minutes to go Clevedon had a scrum deep in Bath territory, scrum half Nick Carpenter carried the ball from the scrum passing to Jake Redman to touch down in the corner. At this point, Clevedon knew that Bath would struggle to come back and kept ball in hand until the final whistle.

All the players showed extreme effort and commitment. This was an outstanding win for Clevedon and takes Clevedon into the next round of the Somerset Cup. No man of the match, but a team of the match. Well done Clevedon under 16s.

The match started with both teams playing hard from the off. After 10 minutes Clevedon won a penalty, which was slotted away by Kieran Hill despite the windy conditions. Wiveliscombe came back with a well run try by Aaron Polat. Another followed shortly scored by Ross Thompson bringing the score at half time to 10 to 3 to the visitors.

The second half saw some great play from both teams, Clevedon pushed hard and were rewarded with a well engineered try by Luke Gardiner, again kicked by Hill. Despite another great surge from Clevedon the score remained 10 a piece at the end, the match going to Wiveliscombe by the number of tries scored.

This local derby is always exciting and challenging game for both sides. Clevedon had several key players missing through injury, having said that the squad at Clevedon this year has plenty of depth. Clevedon were soon off the mark with a strong run from winger Matt Brothers for Clevedon's first try. Yatton responded with a well taken try, which they went on to convert. Clevedon responded well with plenty of possession in Yatton territory. From a loose ruck Nick Carpenter passed to Matt Bailey who dived over the line for Clevedon's second try. Shortly before half time winger Freddie Knight made a solo blistering run to score Clevedon's third try, taking the half time score to Yatton 7 - 17 Clevedon.

Clevedon upped the tempo in the second half and camped out in Yatton territory for much of that time. Jake Redman was the next to get his name on the score sheet with a well-executed try, which was converted by Tom Francis . This was shortly followed by Jason Puddy who produced a powerful drive and broke through the Yatton defence. George Harris produced a chip and run to outpace the Yatton defence to score under the post, again the try was converted by Tom Francis. To conclude today's business the man that opened the Clevedon account Matt Brothers with another long powerful run that broke the Yatton line.

Nailsea Backwell started well with two quick tries by Lewis Lones. Clevedon got stuck in and were rewarded by Matt Fisher crossing the line, shortly followed by another by Joe Higgs. This was kicked by Kieran Hill taking the half time score to 12 - 10 to Clevedon.

Clevedon's Ben williams ran in a long try, which was again converted by Hill. Nailsea Backwell replied with another by Jesse Chapman and kicked by James Cleave. Clevedon struck back again, this time by Will Mathias, kicked by Hill. Tit for tat rugby as Jones struck back for Nailsea Backwell, duly kicked by Cleave. Clevedon finally put the game to bed with a cracking try by Cameron Maslen and another by Fisher, both converted by Hill. An entertaining game to watch with both teams playing hard.

Frampton powered to an easy two try lead having caught Clevedon napping!

Clevedon's Ben Williams ran in two tries and Kieran Hill kicked one putting Clevedon into the lead for a short time until Frampton scored again, taking the score to 15 to 12 at half time. The second half saw Frampton adding another 7 points followed by Luke Gardener adding 5 and Kieran Hill 2. Clevedon just let it slip with Frampton adding another two tries before full time in this enjoyable game.

Back Row: Mike Bailey - Manager, G.Harris, D.Bryant, M.Brothers, H.Lampert, M.Bailey, M.Vicarage, J.Legg, L.Bryant, J.Hicks, Neil Tucker - Coach Front Row: H.Bosley, J.Butler, J.Flower, A.Mason(C), T.Francis, D.Symes

Clevedon Under 16's represented North Somerset Vikings this week in the first stage of the Super Six tournament. Normally The Vikings side would be made up of teams in the North Somerset area, but due to other commitments they where unable to attend, so Clevedon offered to enter their complete team so that the district was represented.

Clevedon travelled to Winscombe for the games with the bare 15 due to injury, exams and players not able to play as they had gained full county honourers. This gave the opportunity for some of the players to play representative rugby, many for the first time.

It was an entertaining match with both sides playing with pride, power and passion in their district colours.

The Warriors took the lead in the first half with a well worked try, but Clevedon fought back and were unlucky not to cross the line themselves. With many players playing out of position Clevedon proved to be a tough side to break down. In the second half a further try from the Warriors gave give them the game.

The Vikings progress onto the final stages ranked second and will play next Friday evening at Bridgwater.

There were solid performances from prop Matt Bailey, scrum half Tom Francis and a great all round performance from the rest of the team.

A quick start to the scoring with a try by Clevedon's Ben Williams and conversion by Kieran Hill.

Stockwood soon struck back with a great try out on the wing. Ben added another two and Dan Jones another before half time, two of which were slotted away by Kieran.

During the second half stockwood never gave up and added two more tries to their total. Clevedon's Phil Pittard added a try, Shaun Peglar added two more and Dan added another to end the game 46 20 to Clevedon.

A great game to watch with good performances by both teams.

This was the first match for both teams, for several weeks. The teams had not met for several years so it was awkward to judge the opposition.

Clevedon made a positive start with a well worked try for Harry Sheppard to touch down and a conversion by Tom Francis. A second try followed with a combination of forwards and backs working well together to send Joe Tucker over.

Harry Sheppard, deep in Clevedon territory, gained the ball and run three quarters of the length of the pitch to touch down under the posts, with another conversion from Tom Francis. Two further tries were scored by Jake Redman and George Harris to take the half time score 31-0.

At the start of the second half Saracens came out all fired up and were soon on the scoreboard with their first try. Clevedon responded well with a rolling maul, which sent Aaron Mason over for a well-earned try. Saracens came back with a great deal of determination and added two further tries, which brought the scores a lot closer. Clevedon had the final say with a well taken try from Aaron Mason again converted by Tom Francis.

This game matched together two of the strongest teams in Somerset lived up to its expectations. From the kickoff Clevedon were in the heart of Keynsham territory and persistance proved the reward with a fine try from Nick Carpenter, converted by Tom Francis. Keynsham responded well with a try of their own. From a scrum deep in Keynsham's territory good handling by the backs released Jake Redman for Clevedon's second try. But again, Keynsham responded well with another good try. From the restart Harry Sheppard was like lightening and stormed through the Keynsham defence to set Clevedon up with a lead of 19-12. However, on the stroke of half time Keynsham scored again to make it all square.

The second half started with Keynsham attacking the Clevedon line, but came away with no reward. The blistering pace of Harry Sheppard proved too strong for Keynsham as he scored two further tries. A good combination of backs and forwards working together sent Jake Redman over for his second try. The pace of Tom Francis and Freddie Knight also proved too strong for the Keynsham defence in the final quarter of the game, each scoring a try.

A very strong and disiplined performance from Clevedon, they now march on to the semi final.