Their pack totally dominated Bridgwater who were under pressure in almost every scrummage, although Matt Hastie did manage to somehow sneak one heel against the head for Bridgwater.

In the lineout, Dan Kemmish and Ali Blundell were generally very secure but Weston did steal a couple of Bridgwater throws.

The Bridgwater backs looked lethargic for much of the game with some of them showing fallibility under the high ball. Sam Osborne and Will Topps had a couple of good runs each and Jack Kohler looked quite lively when he replaced Dominik Griffin at scrum half. George Williams kicked well all afternoon.

The writing was on the wall in the opening seconds. As Steve Hunt waited to catch the kick-off, Weston's Steve Thompson sprinted forward to take the ball almost out of Hunt's hands and this nearly led to a try. The home side were galvanised.

Weston were in complete command. Matt Fotheringham missed an opening penalty that had been advanced 10m for a Bridgwater misdemeanour and then kicked a penalty to the corner.

A forward drive followed and twice Weston were denied tries - being unable to ground the ball. When they did get over the line, the 'try' was disallowed for a forward pass.

With the referee playing advantage, Weston had a third 5m scrum and this time George Sparkes crashed over giving Fotheringham an easy conversion.

Within five minutes, the home side had doubled their lead. With the referee failing to apply the new IRB directive regarding binding in front of the ball carrier at a lineout, Weston moved the ball to the right and Joe Waterman scored under the posts with Fotheringham converting easily.

Bridgwater were looking totally out of sorts and unrecognisable from the side who had started the season so well, but they got back into the game with a short-range penalty from George William

After Bridgwater had made a mess of receiving the kick off, a scrum on the Bridgwater 22 saw Sparkes again pick up and drive at the visitors' line. The initial drive was repulsed but home hooker, David Burge eventually scored with Fotheringham again adding the extra points.

A good break out involving Hastie and Osborne gave Bridgwater some hope but Fotheringham added a penalty to make the half time score 24-3.

The second half was much better for Bridgwater. When Williams kicked a penalty to the corner, the pack contrived their new lineout move again for Matt Hastie to dive over in the corner. Williams' conversion attempt went very close.

Another Fotheringahm penalty stretched the home lead before Jack Kohler took a quick penalty 40m out. The ball reached Gavin Hancock who showed the defence a clean pair of heels to score under the posts. Williams converted and with about a quarter of the game left, Bridgwater were in with a chance.

However, it was not to be. There was no more scoring as Weston comfortably kept their line intact and were satisfied to record a 27-15 victory to take the 'County' bragging rights - at least until the return match later in the season.

Nick Hill was a very unhappy coach after the game and no punches will be pulled in training this week. The team have to click to win at Cheltenham next Saturday, when they are due to be confronted by the same referee, Richard Harding from Devon, as for this game.