Tribute Somerset 2 North

Chew Valley 3rdXV nil  Weston Athletic 52

On what turned out to be a fantastic day for Weston RFC (with the 1sts and 4ths both being crowned league champions) the Development Squad produced their finest performance of the season with an emphatic 0-52 win at Chew Valley.

From the outset Weston were on the front foot playing great rugby with width and pace.

The teams shape was great and the speed of the reloads gave the team momentum, which they kept for virtually the whole game.

Weston opened the scoring after just 5 minutes when DJ Wills broke a first up tackle to break through before sidestepping (yes you read that correctly - sidestepping) the fullback to score under the posts. Archie Tilsley added the extras 0-7.

Weston stayed on top and and were dominant in both set piece areas, but some dogged defence kept the visitors out.

During this period Weston suffered a huge set back when winger Will Young, who was making his long awaited return from injury, when he was tackled heavily close in.

Immediately it was clear that it was a recurrence of the knee injury and he sadly had to withdraw.

Dan Cope replaced him on the wing and shortly after Weston had their second try.

This time it was skipper Aaron Solomon who crashed over after some fantastic offloading by the forwards. Conversion added, 0-14.

From the kick off Weston were straight back on the attack and were using the slope of the pitch to set up good field position.

On 31 minutes Weston scored an excellent 3rd try after some great carries created space on the outside and some fantastic handling by the backline saw Benbobson Fondu cross in the corner.

Tilsley converted from the touchline and Weston were out to 21 points and chasing a bonus point before half time.

This was duly delivered on the stroke of the break when Dan Cope finished really well in the corner following some great running lines in the midfield. Conversion missed but Weston up 0-26.

Second half and Weston expecting a renewed Chew attack and that's exactly what they got.

The home side now making in roads but Weston defending well.

Pressure on the Weston line was repelled through some excellent work at the lineout by Mark Walker and Josh Burton who cleaned up any loose ball.

Dan Prime and Archie Tilsley's boots relieved the Chew pressure. Weston then went back on the attack and scored a beauty.

Effective carrying again by the forwards creating space and the backs moving the ball well before centre Loz Armstrong popped a cheeky no look pass around his back to Simon Owens to score a debut try.

This would be the first of 3 tries in 7 minutes which ended the contest.

DJ Wills was causing havoc with his strong running and was being supported brilliantly by Sam Light and Aaron Solomon.

The ball kept being moved wide and full back Dan Prime had a field day picking holes in a broken defence.

He would complete a great hat trick in 20 minutes,with Archie Tilsley adding a further 3 conversions to see the Seasiders home in convincing fashion 0-52.

A great performance against Chew and one which shows the potential of a lot of young players at the club.

A really proud day, well done to everyone involved. Lots of mentions today; front five were dominant, Aaron Solomon and DJ Wills having their best games of the season, Rob Tollan, Luke Grimes and Sam Light putting in a great shift.

PJ Grimes had a great day, finally having a decent platform to play off and in the backs Benbobson Fondu and Loz Armstrong defended solidly and created lots of opportunities in attack that were finished well by Dan Prime and Dan Cope who both impressed.

Special mentions today though go to Simon Owens who had a great debut, scoring one and the bounce of the ball preventing what would have been a brilliant individual try in the first half, and Archie Tilsley who had a fantastic day at 10, distributing really well, kicking superbly from hand and tee and showed some fine game sense to keep us moving forward.

Next up will be a really tough challenge at home to Cheddar on Saturday.