Regional 2 Tribute Ale South West

Penzance & Newlyn 27 Weston-super-Mare 42

Weston-super-Mare began the second half of the Regional 2 Tribute Ale South West season with this victory at the Mennaye Field as they extended their unbeaten run at the top of the table to 12 games, writes Chris Heath

Outscoring their Penzance & Newlyn hosts by six tries to four, Weston are now 14 points clear of second-placed Tiverton, ahead of their final game of 2025 on Saturday when they host struggling Cullompton, kick-off 2.30 pm.

It was a bright and breezy afternoon in deepest Cornwall and Weston won the toss and elected to play with the sun at their backs with the breeze for the opening forty minutes. It paid off as they had secured a try bonus point before the break.

Penzance & Newlyn, in their first season at this level, kicked off and retrieved the ball, but a stout Weston defence led to a turnover, and fly-half George Nuttycombe provided a superb grubber kick, which left wing Ryan Watterston raced onto to score the opening try.

Nuttycombe expertly converted to put the visitors seven points up after less than two minutes on the clock. However, the hosts immediately hit back with a well-taken try by right wing Ben Wragg after being awarded a penalty.

Chances came and went, but Weston weren't quite clicking, and the visitors were eventually repaid for their profligacy when fly-half Rhys Brownfield kicked a penalty to put the home side ahead by one point.

Weston hit back with a superb score when Watterston made a fine outside break before passing inside to centre Cameron Maslen. Right-wing Keanu Ballard was on hand to take the final pass to make the Nuttycombe conversion an easy one.

Staunch Weston defence kept the Cornish team at bay, before they thought they had scored a breakaway try. But the referee ruled they had knocked on at the start, and Weston were able to breathe a sigh of relief.

Weston then scored another spectacular try inside when centre Marcus Nel and Ballard combined to put Watterston away for his second. Nuttycombe again added the extras to give the visitors a 21-8 lead.

Weston then conceded another penalty, which was kicked to the left corner. From the resulting lineout, the catch and drive was successful with hooker Wesley Eddy claiming the try. The conversion was missed as the ball fell from the tee in the act of kicking.

Patience was rewarded on the stroke of half-time when, following a good break by Maslen, the forward power of the Weston team was told when a series of pick and goes led to impressive No.8 Nasili Ikahihifo eventually crossing the whitewash near the posts.

Nuttycombe added the simple conversion to the bonus point try to give the visitors a comfortable 28-13 lead at the break. Still, Weston knew it was not going to be an easy second half as the hosts were providing stiff opposition.

After the restart, Nuttycombe had to leave the field with a hip injury and was replaced by Archie Tilsley. A knock to the head saw former club captain Tom Sugg joined him on the sidelines with Sam Light coming off the bench.

The visitors missed several opportunities to clear their line and Penzance & Newlyn reduced the arrears with a second Wragg try in the left corner which was well converted from the touchline by Brownfield.

Weston hit back with a magnificent catch and drive which left the referee with no option but to give a penalty try. Replacement Robson Bird entered the fray with Light redeploying to prop in place of Ieuan John.

Another fantastic drive by Weston resulted in a try for excellent hooker Gary Carpenter with Tilsley providing the extras. Weston's defence was now thwarting the hosts’ attacking options and the visitors were starting to look even more threatening.

A misplaced pass prevented the hosts from hitting back after good play and Weston once again weathered the storm. Penzance weren't finished and went in search of their own bonus point try as a reward for their endeavours.

Weston conceded yet another penalty and Penzance & Newlyn tried the catch and drive again. They were successful this time with Brownfield converting the touchdown from replacement Kenny Jones with eight minutes still to play.

Weston reintroduced John with skipper Charlie Brabham, leaving the field with a slight injury. The hosts were the beneficiaries of yet another penalty, and although Weston held it up for a long time, the referee deemed that they had infringed again.

Penzance & Newlyn elected to scrum, but Weston were up to the task and earned a penalty to clear their lines and ran the clock down to win a far from easy victory and complete the season double after the 56-33 home victory back in September.

Match Photos HERE