High-flying Hornets run in a magnificent seven
Telford Hornets withstood a spirited Handsworth fightback to secure their fifth win in six Midlands 3 West (North) outings.
Hornets ran in seven tries on their way to an entertaining 43-31 success on home soil.
The sides traded tries in the opening 30 minutes. Hornets’ scores came from Dylan Read and Nathan Kelly, with Dan Robinson adding a conversion.
The hosts then finished the half strongly as Will Mottershaw and Owen Evans both touched down to put their side 26-16 up
Two quick tries at the start of the second half, from Read and Robinson, with one conversion, extended Hornet’s lead to 38-12. Handsworth then staged a comeback scoring three tries in the space of 16 minutes, closing the score to 38-31.
Hornets responded well to this threat and immediately worked their way into the Handsworth half.
A blindside break by Matthew Bird started the move, ably supported by Read who put Mottershaw over for his second try of the match. Robinson added the conversion to close out the match.
The win saw Hornets maintain second spot in the table.
Shrewsbury got their campaign back on track with a hard-fought success at home to Harborne.
The Sundorne Castle men bounced back after suffering back-to-back defeats to claim a 26-18 victory.
Liam Deery scored two tries with Ieaun Morris also touching down before Jack Bevan sealed the win with the last play of the game with a fine individual score that saw him break clear from the halfway line. Fly-half Jai Crippin, who lined up alongside his father Simon, added three conversions.
The victory left Shrewsbury in fourth place in the standings, four points behind second-placed Telford Hornets.
“It was a pleasing victory in what was an important game having suffered two successive losses,” said head coach dale Smallman.
“It was a hard-fought win and a very good game between two evenly matched sides.
“We had a more direct game plan and asked the players to put in some hard yards and look after the ball, which they did.”
“It was a fine individual try from Jack at the end and pleasing to pick up a bouns point because they could be important towards the end of the season.
Clee Hill took the derby day honours in their clash with Cleobury Mortimer after edging home 11-10.
The victor saw Clee climb up to fifth in the table.
