Sat 13 Oct 2012
National Three South West
WESTON 20 pts BRIXHAM 15 pts
A BRACE of second half tries by Weston’s outstanding No 8 George Sparks went a long way towards beating the challenge of a good Brixham side at the Recreation Ground last Saturday.
In the 50th minute, the Seasiders applied maximum pressure at a set scrum and when the visitors were eventually penalised, skipper Gavin Simpson opted for another scrum and after a couple of phases, Sparks got the touchdown via scrum-half Dan Waldon.
Earlier, the hosts were on the scoreboard in the second minute.
Harry Somers’ line-out catch and the subsequent drive gave hooker Craig Withers the opening score.
But Withers’ exit with a knee injury in the 25th minute had a serious effect on Weston’s line-out for the remainder of the match and when visiting centres Brown and Tom McLean threatened, it took two pieces of expert defending by wing Matthew Watkins to prevent a Brixham reply.
However, Mackay’s 35-metre penalty in the 40th minute sent the hosts to the interval with an eight point lead.
This meant that they had to play with 14 players, but Weston’s scrum power was nullified together with their now faulty line-out, but Sparks’ second try took them to 20-3.
But the Seasiders now had to defend stoutly and flanker Michael Morris’ tackle on fly-half Lovell was crucial as the visitors were now able to use their backs to good effect.
Davis’ try and a similar score by Brown brought Brixham back into serious contention, but Weston continued to defend strongly as the visitors eventually ran out of time.
Weston: R Bennett, M Watkins (M Oupoh h/t), H Jones, S Edwards, J Arnold, J Mackay, D Waldon, D Swann, C Withers (S Donegan 25) (S Eaton 60), P Hobbs, H Somers, G Wright, G Simpson (c), M Morris, G Sparks.
