Castle Cary 5 Clevedon 58
1st March 2026
Clevedon came out of hibernation to play their first game in 5 weeks and within 2 minutes were notching up their first try through Brian Largenton, unfortunately missed by the tardy photographer.
Ozzy James was next on the score sheet 3 minutes later and the aforementioned photographer just managed to snap Ozzy on his triumphant run back to his own half. His first try for Clevedon in 10 years.
With several younger players departing for their gap years, Clevedon displayed an impressive cohesion in the backline and looked very slick indeed, creating all sorts of mayhem.
Clevedon got their try bonus point (one each for Guy Prideaux and Charlie Tucker) after 16 minutes, scored one more (Ethan Thomas) on the half hour and then remained scoreless for the next twenty.
The last 10 minutes of the first half was all Castle Cary who tried everything but couldn't thwart the strong Clevedon defence.
After the break it was a different story as Castle Cary started with a lot more intent and deserved their only try after 42 minutes. Clevedon's half time chit chat didn't do the magic that it usually does as they fell into a sort of "we've got this game won mode" but after that Cary score, Clevedon reverted to type, scoring through Ed Ryder after 50 minutes.
A bizarre penalty try was awarded to Clevedon 5 minutes later for "ungentlemanly conduct". Ryder was five yards out and would've barged his way over but a call from the Castle Cary scrum half meant that he passed the ball to the opposition instead. The ref wasn't happy and Clevedon were awarded the 7 points.
The next two tries came from Ozzy James (MOTM) scorching down the wing, breaking tackles willy nilly and generally enjoying himself. A far cry from his first return match played during the Ingrid storm mayhem at Burnham.
The last word was from Brian Largenton who finished the game off as he started with one of his trade mark tries.
Overall, the five week break helped Clevedon on the injury front, but unfortunately they picked up some more. Cal Fear had a very nasty gash on his knee from a stone in the pitch, Blaise Bosley sustained a friendly fire stud in the eye and Dave Downey damaged his shoulder. With a two week break (Rebels were due) until Clevedon play Avon at home, there's some hope they'll recover in time.
A good return to form for Clevedon, which leaves them still in second place, 6 points behind B-o-S with a game in hand and with only 6 games left it's gonna be tight at the top.
