For players and keen followers of Cully RFC the weekend begins on Thursday nights when Colin Steer releases the team sheet. This week sees the return to the wing of Zac May whose recovery period after being concussed at the Okehampton game was double the usual time as he was three days short of his nineteenth birthday. Also back after injury is Sean Mardell who will reacclimatise to match conditions off the bench, Kev Davis is at loosehead with Ollie Schuster-Wood as front row replacement on the bench and Sam Budgett starts at full back after a sound performance last week. The seconds have raised a team this week and are playing Newton Abbott at home thanks in no small part to veterans Barry Newton and Paul Wyle who turn out week in week out so that Cully can put forward a front row.

The Cully youngsters took to the Hornet’s 4D pitch like ducks to water and winger Josh Luxon tried out the in goal area for comfort as he opened the scoring. The competition was between Cully’s flashes of youthful brilliance with a scrum advantage that was overwhelming at the end and the Hornets more mature decision making as they built a lead before a late challenge by their visitors who, taking advantage of the tiring home pack, closed the gap to the losing bonus point and also got the fourth try. In the face of the Cully youngsters who never know when they’re beaten; Hornets maturity again showed at time up when they elected for the expedient route and kicked the ball dead at the first opportunity.

Cully director of rugby Steve Luxon whilst feeling his side continued to improve, was unhappy that the referee had not given “accidental offside” against the Hornet’s seven as he ran into one of his own players on the way to his side’s second try and also supported Cully eight Dan Reed in his assertion that the third try was grounded on his leg rather than the post. Another interesting point on officiation was Scott Reed’s yellow card. Reed had his man around the chest and used a leg to help him to ground to be penalised for tripping. Spectators could not recall this technique ever being interpreted as a trip. Does anyone know the official definition of a trip? (answers in comments please)

Cully belied their lowly position from the start, spending the whole of the opening quarter in Hornet’s territory apart from the first two minutes from kick off which ended when a dominant Cully scrum marked the beginning of a torrid afternoon for the home pack. Fine early tackles by winger Zac May and flanker Scott Reed set the standard for Cully players with home attacks making little headway and when winger Josh Luxon fielded a poor clearance from a disrupted Hornet’s scrum, the ball was carried forward by full back Sam Budgett, centre Tom Harold, prop Kev Davis and lock Andrew “Badger” Hayball. Caught offside in the eighth minute Hornets conceded a penalty from which Luxon’s ambitious shot at the posts went slightly wide. Luxon did however open the scoring when flyhalf Ross Toms scooped up a loose ball from a home lineout and a long pass to the wing saw good pace down the touchline and an unconverted try in the corner for 0-5 on twenty one minutes.

From the restart a catalogue of Cully errors allowed the opposition two quick tries before the half hour punctuated by a fine run by May who took on a ball from centre Dan Sanders and was only pushed into touch in the very corner. Cully were offside at the restart, conceded a free kick at the penalty lineout, did manage to hold up a Hornets attempt on their line but let in the eight, Lewis Brake, after a tap penalty for a try converted by standoff Jordan Humphries. Then after the excitement of the May break an attempted long pass to Luxon did not go to hand, Hornet’s winger Ozzie James gathered and the ball was worked to flanker Tommy Bailey whose well run in try was allowed to stand despite his collision with one of his own players. Humphries again converted for 14-5.

Late in the half each side scored again. Cully closed the gap on thirty eight minutes to 14-12 when flanker Dan Stevens took a long ball at lineout and Hornets conceded the penalty for pulling down the maul. The other Reed, Dan the number eight took the ball in the five metre penalty lineout to form another maul from which Scott Reed shot into score with Luxon converting from the touchline. In the forty first minute of the half a Cully offside allowed the home side to exert five minutes of pressure on the Cully line. The toe to toe scrap ended with the controversial try on the post decision for Bailey with another Humphries conversion for 21-12.

Disaster struck in the third quarter when Stevens collided with Mardell who was just off the bench and raring to go. Stevens will be out for three weeks with concussion and Mardell sustained a broken nose and fractured eye socket. The pained look on Mardell’s battered face was probably not about the undoubted agony of the injury but more to do with his playing season which had just evaporated in a second. The remainder of the quarter was an arm wrestle and the scoreboard was untroubled but should have been as the rampant Cully pack secured a kickable penalty in the fifty eighth minute but the attempt went wide.

It was all action in the final quarter which started in the sixtieth minute with a Hornet’s surge to the Cully ten straight from the twenty two dropout when centre Danny Bailey cut a nice line for a well taken unconverted try. On sixty six minutes Scott Reed was yellow carded and Hornets cashed in two minutes later when a penalty gave them an attacking five metre lineout and lock Ross Cheeseborough claimed the try behind a maul which was converted by Humphries for 33-12.

A fine try saving tackle by Budgett in the seventieth minute seemed to turn the tide and some good ball handling got Cully out of their own half. When May just failed to break away down the line, Hornet’s had a lineout on half way but as they moved the ball away through the hands, Toms, moving at full pace took a perfectly timed leap to catch the ball at the apex of a longish pass and left the defence for dead to pull back the score to 33-19 with the Luxon conversion. Maintaining momentum a Cully penalty was gathered by replacement centre Will Gingell who made good ground and the ball was moved through Luxon to prop Ollie Schuster-Wood who did what he had been threatening to do all match and broke from near halfway brushing off would be tacklers to score a fine try converted by Luxon for 33-26, the losing bonus point and the try bonus point as well.

Still the game was not over as the battling Cully pack finally convinced the ref of their prowess and won a scrum penalty with a fine ten metre shove. In a do or die penalty kick Toms just failed to find touch and the last minute try opportunity for a memorable draw was gone but the team now know they have what it takes and are waiting for the visit of Thornbury with anticipation