Tribute South West Premier

Old Centralians 24 Weston-super-Mare 33

Report by Chris Heath

Hooker Aaron Thompson on his debut. Photo credit: Weston Rugby

Twenty-old hooker Aaron Thompson made his debut for Weston-super-Mare as he joined fellow Bristol Bears Senior Academy players, centre Dylan Power and No.8 Macenzzie Duncan in the starting line-up for the Tribute South West Premier game away to Old Centralians.

The victory maintains the Seasiders’ hold on fourth place in the table despite another relatively disappointing first-half display; Weston sprang to life in the second period to record a bonus-point win over their plucky opponents from Gloucester. 

The match, which was switched to the artificial surface at Plock Court after the pitch at Saintbridge, was declared unfit to play. At the start, it looked as though the hangover from the previous week's woeful performance against Drybrook was continuing.

In the second minute from the first of several penalties awarded against the visitors, Centralians took the lead with a converted try following a forward rumble. Weston hit back in the tenth minute as Thompson carried on a move started by impressive Duncan.

Scrum-half Jack Press passed to centre Cameron Maslen, whose flipped pass put flanker Ben Tothill over. Fly-half Chris Young, deputising for the still Covid affected James Mackay, expertly converting from wide out in blustery conditions. 

Weston then took the lead when a combination of a catch and drive and centre Dylan Power combined to put Young over. The conversion was again made, but almost from the kick-off prop, Sam Coles received a yellow card, which seemed to bolster Centralians confidence.

With penalties being awarded with monotonous regularity, they soon equalised with a converted try following a kick to the corner and a dive over before taking the lead with a penalty.

The visitors regained the lead with a bizarre try when Duncan made another excellent break before replacement flanker Jack Woodland bounced off what looked like a no arms tackle and, like a pinball, crossed near the posts. 

Young converted again to give Weston a four-point lead, but near the break, Cents retook the lead with another converted try after penalising the visitors.

The second half was a much more cagey affair, with Weston retaking the lead, which they were never to relinquish when following a series of penalties against the hosts and no sign of a yellow card; Duncan capped his afternoon’s work by dabbing down a pushover. 

From there on in Weston were much more impressive, and their good work was further rewarded when a break by Woodland, carried on by Maslen and left-wing Joe Burgess, led to another penalty.

This resulted in yet another break by Duncan, who enabled Press to dance his way over under the sticks to make Young's conversion a simple one. Weston had their bonus-point victory and had managed to prevent the hosts from scoring in the second period.

Duncan had an excellent afternoon for Weston, as did Thompson on his debut. The scrum was solid, and the line out a vast improvement on the previous week. With Young playing in one of his rarer positions also having a fine afternoon along with Tothill and lock Ashley Russell.

Weston can look forward to Saturday's Webb Ellis Somerset County Senior Cup quarter-final at home to the University of Bath, kick-off 2 pm.

Weston-super-Mare scorers – tries: Chris Young, Ben Tothill, Jack Woodland, Macenzzie Duncan, Jack Press; cons: Chris Young (4).