South West One

Bracknell 40 Weston-super-Mare 3

Weston fell to their heaviest league defeat of the season as they were outplayed and outclassed by Bracknell at Lily Hill Park.

WESTON fell to their heaviest league defeat of the season as they were outplayed and outclassed by Bracknell at Lily Hill Park.The try count of 5-0 tells its own story in a match in which the Seasiders were rarely in contention.

Two yellow cards and injuries to Paul Sprague and Ashley Russell added to the discomfort, but before that, several basic errors during the first 20 minutes gave the hosts a flying start.

Two early penalties to the corner, the second of which produced a try for Carl Cimpoias, and a penalty by skipper Ben Nowak gave Bracknell an 8-0 lead, and after James Mckay was unable to convert penalties from 40 and 20 metres, Weston were unlucky when Mark Armstrong was adjudged offside from Mackay's grubber.

A try at that stage would have been a boost to the visitors, but Bracknell countered strongly and Nowak's second penalty followed David Burge's visit to the sin bin. Mackay's penalty reduced the deficit, but before the break the fly-half was just wide with a 45-metre attempt.

Weston were just about still in the match at the break, but they were soon out of it five minutes into the second half when they conceded a second try from a line-out drive.Jon Mirza was the beneficiary as the hosts continued their assault.

There was some good defending, notably by Dan Fry, Kevin Hobbs, Sean Bennett and Mike Kempton, but Armstrong's interception on half way came to nothing and the departure of Sprague and Russell together, with Nowak's third penalty adding to the pain.

Then came Hobbs' yellow card and in the final 15 minutes, Weston were spent as Bracknell added tries by Jervis Manupenu, Jason Borcherds and Oliver Jones, Nowak converting all three.

This was a disappointing performance by the Seasiders, but even sadder was the apparent eye gouging by the hosts. Both Sprague and Hobbs received treatment from Bracknell's club doctor after the match.

Weston-super-Mare: Chris Crichton; Kirk Middlemiss, Mark Armstrong, Sean Bennett, Paul Sprague (Josh Mortimer 63); James Mackay, Ross Bennett; David Price, David Burge (capt), Neil Lavender (James Gallagher 48) (Neil Lavender 53-55 blood), Mike Kempton, Ash Russell (Jacob Harris 68), Eddie Smith, Kevin Hobbs, Dab Fry (James Gallagher 30-38)

Weston-super-Mare scorer - pen: James Mackay; yellow cards: David Burge (25 min), Kevin Hobbs (68 min)