Friendly match
Crewkerne II 32, Blake Bears 21

BLAKE Bears travelled to Crewkerne with a 20-strong squad, with representatives from five Somerset teams invited to wear the Bears' red & black.

Captain Jason Richards was in full voice and Martin Woodford led the pack.

Before the game got under way, the teams lined up for a minute’s silence for friends of the Bears, Wayne and Annabel, who were recently lost, as well as for Remembrance Sunday.

Crewkerne started at a rate of knots and it wasn’t long before Hamish McDermott opened the scoring with a fine try in the corner, soon followed by home captain Liam Bushell going over to make it 10-0.

Bears' opening score came from the set-piece, with the ball spun wide and then the pace and strength of Billy Vernon getting over the line, with Leon Kearle adding the extras.

Skipper Richards followed him over the whitewash, with Kearle converting for a 14-10 advantage.

The home team were then deemed to have put the ball out illegally to bring the game to the half-time break, and Bears made the most of the territory, with Vernon getting his second try and Kearle kicking his side into a 21-10 lead at the break.

Crewkerne had a sense of urgency at the restart, and powerhouse David Turney went over, before a penalty put the hosts right back in the game (21-20).

The home side had the momentum now, and Bushell crashed over between the posts to put them ahead, 27-21.

Crewkerne had the final word when McDermott crossed once again, despite some dogged Bears defence, bringing a great contest to an end.

Crewkerne: M. White, J. Hooker, D. Turney, R. Howard, T. Edwards, M. Nebel, G. Simpson, G. Montague, C. Dunlop, H. McDermott, L. Bushell, N. Padfield, L. Davies, C. Bridgland, N. Conway, R. Ellis, S. O’Siodhachain, R. Cottle, M. Lewis, K. Edwards, J. Kirton.

Blake Bears: J. Richards, N. Berryman, A. Stephens, M. Duffy, P. Sussex, P. Richards, G. Smillie, K. Smillie, J. Grant, M. Woodford, M. Galeitzke, S. Richards, B. Vernon, B. Parmer, A. Huges, L. Kerle, M. Woodford, J. Hayman, A. Perrin, N. Baker.

Crewkerne Ladies 37, Cullompton Ladies 15

A GOOD crowd gathered to watch Crewkerne's second match.

Before the game started, representatives from the Royal British Legion sounded the last post.

Crewkerne piled on early pressure and, with just four minutes on the clock, Noor Limmer crossed for the opening try.

From the restart, play was soon back into Cullompton territory but it took a further 20 minutes for Molly Daniel to score a fine try under the posts - the attempted conversion bouncing back off the crossbar.

Cullompton woke up in the second quarter and worked the ball well with Meg Esby crossing to bring her team back in the game at 10-5.

Then, Laura Baker followed suit soon after to level the score.

The forwards led the comeback driving towards the line; Emma Nebel saw the gap and dived through to give the home team the lead and Molly Daniel added the extras.

Cullompton came back hard and fast and Crewkerne defended well but could not stop KC Williams going over.

However, Daniel added another great try to bring the score to 23-15 at the break.

After the break, Isabelle Nebel, Amelia Gilbert and Hannah Aslett dominated with Leia Babb, at nine, orchestrating the play.

It wasn’t long before Daniel broke through again for her third try and, minutes later, added her fourth try, putting the game out of reach. 

There was just time for one more score and it was Daniel who touched down to bring her personal tally to 27.

It was a fantastic result for Crewkerne ahead of their first competitive game in The Inner Warrior Series (SW) against Bridgwater Albion and then Teignmouth on December 1 at Teignmouth.

Crewkerne: Tara Smillie (C), Cody Hyland, Vicki Stephens, Kimberly Saunders, Kimberley Wilkins, Emma Nebel, Gemma Hodder, Hannah Aslett, Leia Babb, Isabelle Nebel, Rebecca Priday, Molly Bidgood, Molly Daniel, Amelia Gilbert, Noor Limmer, Sian Gray, Elizabeth Popham, Florence McGhee, Jude Hattersley, Kate Goodison, Rebecca Padfield.