Weston claimed the Somerset Cup for the fifth time in eight years against a gutsy Bristol Harlequins at Keynsham on Saturday.

With the hot sun belting down, South West One outfit Weston were expected to run riot in what should have been a one-sided final against a Quins side that play three divisions below in Somerset Premier.

But Quins – who had made the short trip from Brislington – never threw in the towel although the scoreline could have been closer had their discipline been better.

Harlequins conceded a raft of penalties throughout the match and had three players sin-binned during the second half – two of them at the same time on 64 minutes.

A rout seemed on the cards when Weston crossed the whitewash after 42 seconds, only for Kirk Middlemiss' try to be disallowed because the winger was offside when chasing fly-half James Mackay's kick.

The Seasiders were not to be denied and, on four minutes, centre James Reid coasted through the gap before passing for flanker George Wright to go over, Mackay converting.

Quins replied with a penalty three minutes later but, against the run of play, the more clinical Weston extended their lead with a try from No 8 Dan Fry. Mackay added the extras from out wide.

Luck went Harlequins way on 22 minutes when replacement back row forward Simon Steele dived on the bobbling ball for a try after wing Lee Pearn and Paul Sprague failed to deal with a Scott Manning chip.

Quins were back in the match but scrum-half Ross Hickery blotted what was an impressive match by missing an easy kick.

Mackay made Quins pay for their indiscipline by landing three penalties to make the score 23-8 at the break.

Centre Aaron Cooke was yellow-carded by Devon official Adam Friend five minutes after half-time for a trip on Sprague when he chased a kick.

But, not letting their heads drop, Quins came out of the 10-minute period with a second try to their name after full-back Manning burst through some weak tackling to score. Hickery's conversion made it 23-15 but that was as close as Quins got with Weston turning the screw after the hour-mark.

On 61 minutes, the impressive Mackay neatly passed inside to Fry before receiving the return to go under the posts, add the conversion and kill off a comeback.

With the penalty count mounting, Quins flanker Jay Wilkins was sin-binned for the club's persistent infringing. Seconds later, replacement James Hickery also received his marching orders for taking out Weston scrum-half Ross Bennett off the ball.

The impressive Mackay and Fry combined again for a great try on 68 minutes, the University of Bristol fly-half passing out of the back door for former Old Redcliffians No 8 Fry to go over.

Despite the margin, Quins finished strongly and grabbed another deserved consolation score when Manning crashed over for his second try. Ross Hickery converted.