South West One

CONEY HILL 18 pts WESTON 33 pts

ALTHOUGH skipper David Burge's pack held the upper hand for most of this match, the Seasiders made hard work of defeating newly-promoted Coney Hill in Gloucester.

Weston started brightly when T J Madamombe took advantage of a knock-on to score in the third minute.

Mark Armstrong converted and Madamombe was almost over again after a burst by George Sparks, but the final pass was adjudged forward.

Coney Hill applied pressure and it took some excellent defending by Burge and Chris Young to prevent a score.

Weston were also struggling with missed touches and conceding numerous penalties until just before the break when Sparks' clean catch at a line-out produced a try for Burge.

Madamombe's yellow card, followed by Rory Baker's penalty for the hosts did not help Weston's already wobbly start to the second half, but they went further ahead when Edward Hunt was driven over for his first senior try.

Armstrong again converted, but Coney Hill quickly got back in contention with a try by skipper Craig Ballinger.

However, the Seasiders were beginning to get on top and following Armstrong's conversion of Andrew Richards' try, they were now looking for the coup de grace.

Instead, wrong options and poor discipline gave the hosts the opportunity to score their second try, touched down by Sean Felice and converted by Barker to bring the score to 26-18.

But as Hill pressed for another score, Sparks intercepted on half way in the fifth minute of stoppage time to run to the posts, Armstrong's fourth conversion giving the scoreline a flattering look.

Weston: H Warman (T Bradshaw 66); C Crichton, T J Madamombe, J Reid, C Young; M Armstrong, L Hember; H Smith, D Burge (capt), E Hunt, A Richards, A Russell, D Cook (A Ball 58), P Morrissey (N Lavender 73), G Sparks.Yellow card: Madamombe and Hunt.