South West One

Cleve 6 Weston-super-Mare 30

AFTER Weston's unexpected victory over Bracknell two weeks ago, it was essential they built on this, and David Burge and his team did just that at the Hayfields and again it was their improving pack that laid the foundation.

The set scrum was rock solid and the line-out was in good working order, but the back row which had a major influence.

With a long injury list amongst the tight forwards, the Seasiders were fortunate to be able to welcome back George Sparks on loan from National 2 club Stourbridge.

Sparks was a try scorer as was Daniel Fry, but Craig Trump who continually caught the eye.

When the hosts were looking dangerous, particularly during the first half, Trump was everywhere that he should have been in his best performance so far for the club.

And all this was backed up by another mature effort by young half-backs Ross Bennett and James Mackay, who kicked five penalties.

Unfortunately, Bennett suffered in the first few seconds, yellow carded for allegedly taking out an opponent while in the air, and Cleve took full advantage with Matthew Spencer's penalty.

However, Mackay levelled matters with a similar score before Weston took the lead they were never to lose.

Mark Armstrong was held on the line following a line-out drive and Fry was on hand to dive over.

Spencer's second penalty brought the score back to 8-6, but in the 40th minute, Trump's strong charge set up another penalty by Mackay.

Cleve were still looking dangerous and in stoppage time they were about to retake the lead, but their powerful wing Shak Ajuwa was halted on the line by Bennett's crucial cover tackle.

Having heaved a collective sigh of relief, the Seasiders went clear in the third minute of the second half when Mackay's steepling punt was knocked straight into the arms of Sparks who galloped 45 metres to the line.

Mackay's third and fourth penalties followed in the 58th and 59th minutes to give Weston a clear view of the winning post before Armstrong's kick to the right corner was chased by Fry who scored his second try.

Mackay, whose intelligent line kicking kept Cleve under the cosh, finished things with his fifth penalty to make the final score 30-6.

The Seasiders have now moved up to a mid-table position in South West 1 and hopefully they will continue their winning run when they entertain Chippenham at the Recreation Ground on Saturday (2.30pm).

Weston: H Warman; C Crichton, G Britton, M Armstrong, P Sprague; J Mackay, R Bennett; D Price, D Burge (capt), S Williams, M Kempton, E Smith, G Sparks, C Trump, D Fry. Replacements (not used): J Reid, J Gallagher, J Littlewood.

Cleve scorers - pens: Matt Spencer (2); yellow cards: Ian Thomas (19 min), Will Davis (66 min)

Weston-super-Mare: Harry Warman; Chris Crichton, George Britton, Mark Armstrong, Paul Sprague; James Mackay, Ross Bennett;  David Price, David Burge, Simon Williams, Mike Kempton, Eddie Smith, George Sparks, Craig Trump, Dan Fry. Reps: James Gallagher, J Littlewood, James Reid

Weston-super-Mare scorers - tries: Dan Fry (2), George Sparks; pens: James Mackay (5); yellow card: Ross Bennett (1 min)