Sat 14 Feb 2026, 14:30
Regional 2 Tribute Ale South West
Winscombe 8 Weston-super-Mare 32
Weston-super-Mare completed a season’s double over near neighbours Winscombe, who had provided a hard game when they visited the Rec. in October, so the visitors knew that it wasn’t going to be an easy afternoon, at least on paper, writes Chris Heath.
The bonus point victory stretches Weston’s unbeaten run this season to 17 games, and they are now 29 points clear of second-placed Tiverton, who have three games in hand, while Winscombe were left empty-handed in seventh-place, having now lost five in a row.
Weston were without influential full back Alex Howman due to a knee injury, so his place went to the dependable Chris Young. Unfortunately, in-form prop Ieuan John was injured in the warm-up, so Maison Turner started at tighthead, and Adam Fisher added to the bench.
Playing down the slope in the first period, Winscombe immediately went on the offensive and earned a penalty. After a series of attacks, the ball went loose, and a long kick into the home twenty-two metre area ended with a scrambled clearance.
Weston opened the scoring after a charge by second row George Talbot and centre Marcus Nel led to No.8 Nasili Ikahihifo dotted the ball down by the uprights to make fly-half George Nuttycombe’s conversion straight forward.
Winscombe hit back, and only staunch defending kept them at bay. A try-saving tackle by Ikahihifo stopped the hosts’ right wing Will Pearce from diving into the corner, but Weston had infringed at the scrum.
The home side took the opportunity to get three points on the board. Weston kicked to the corner from another penalty, and with the line beckoning, they once again dropped the ball, and the chance was gone.
The game was becoming a war of attrition on the heavy pitch, and with the ball looking more like a bar of soap, it was definitely stop-start. A superb clearance kick by Young stopped another Winscombe attack.
But the visitors misplaced the ball again, and a hack through resulted in a fifty-twenty-two to the hosts, but they then messed up after a promising drive, and another chance went begging.
Five minutes before the break, Talbot had to leave the field with a leg injury to be replaced by evergreen lock Ashley Russell. The change was instant, and after superb play by the forwards, second row Tom Sugg crossed near the posts.
Nuttycombe added the extras to give the visitors a 14-3 half-time advantage. With Weston playing up the slope in the second half, Nuttycombe added two penalties shortly after the restart to open up a 17-point gap.
But Winscombe reduced the arrears after they were awarded a couple of penalties for offside, which resulted in a lineout on Weston's five-metre line, and they managed to cross the whitewash for an unconverted try,
Weston then introduced Fisher for Turner, so Gary Carpenter moved to tighthead prop. A kick to the corner by Nuttycombe led to a catch and drive by Weston, but the move ended up conceding a penalty in front of the hosts’ posts.
The visitors then had a chance to yet again increase their lead, but this time the kick from Nuttycombe was unsuccessful. But Weston were at last looking like their old selves and were stopped just short of the line after a period of attacking play.
From the lineout that followed, Weston’s blindside flanker Callum Kingscott scored in the hand corner following some excellent play, and Nuttycombe’s super kick added another two points to the visitors’ account.
A tremendous tackle by Kingscott foiled another Winscombe attack after they had broken to within seven metres of the visitors’ line. Weston hit back, and after another penalty Weston drove over for their bonus point try, touched down by Carpenter.
The try went unconverted. Jake Knight then replaced Press for the final minutes, marking his return to Weston colours. The visitors knew they had faced a very hard battle, but their second-half performance once again showed why they are the unbeaten league leaders.
For Weston Ikahihifo and Press were tremendous, but Kingscott was given the very worthy man-of-the-match award. Weston’s next match is on Saturday, February 28, when they host ninth-placed North Petherton, who had a 22-19 home win over Cullompton on Saturday.
