Western Counties West
Saltash 6, Wellington 26

THE Red & Blacks crossed the Tamar to take on Saltash last Saturday as last season’s two promoted clubs met, writes Allyn Chetland.

A nasty accident on the M5 resulted in the visitors arriving later than expected and it was the hosts who started the brighter.

With a slope and the wind in their favour, Saltash dominated the opening exchanges and raced into a 6-0 lead before Wellington had time to look around.

Eventually the R&Bs started to get into the match and, following a series of quick rucks on hosts’ line, Danny Lee powered over underneath the posts – full-back Alex Davey converted to give the R&Bs the lead.

Further sustained pressure by Wellington, with forwards & backs combining well, was rewarded when the impressive Cam Venn crossed for a try with Davey again making no mistake with the conversion.

Saltash came back into the game well but the visiting defence stood firm to take a 14-6 lead into half-time.

With elements now in their favour, the R&Bs looked to push on and take control of the game, however Saltash had other ideas.

Despite having the dominant scrum and better quality possession, the R&Bs could not exploit some gilt-edged scoring opportunities and needed a try-saving tackle by replacement Will Brewer to stop Saltash eating into the lead.

With time ticking by it seemed there would no more scores, however captain Patrick Jarman saw a gap in the Salash’s defence which he quickly exploited to dummy and side step his way to the line for a superb individual try.

Davey again slotted the conversion to extend the lead.

One last effort was needed by the R&Bs to get the fourth and bonus point try.

Scrum-half Tim Jenkinson duly obliged when he muscled his way over with the last move of the match after great play by the pack to make the final score 26-6.

Wellington: J.Hancock, J.Dyke, R.Marke, R.Walker, C.Kitto, D.Lee, L.Phillips, C.Venn, T.Jenkinson, P.Jarman (c), V.Gordan, C.Batts, R,Hooper, N.Pitman, A.Davey, W.Hinchcliffe, J.Richards, W.Brewer.

***

Somerset Premier
Weston-super-Mare 2nds 28, Wiveliscombe 38

WIVELISCOMBE travelled to Weston on Saturday knowing that the Seasiders had not lost at home against their West Somerset visitors in recent games, writes Roger Bellamy.

Wivey managed to come away with a draw last season, 31-31, but they have struggled late on in previous games.

A spirited first quarter by the away side, however, saw them sprint into a 14-0 lead, with full-back Jake Sharland scoring a brace of tries after Wivey's three-quarters found openings in the home defence.

Fly-half George Rowe converted both tries.

Weston raised their intensity, and their pacey backs scored two well-worked tries in a purple patch to pull level, as fly-half Archie Tilsley and back rower Billy Kirk crossed and Archie Tilsley converted.

Opportunities came and went for both teams up to half time, with the only one taken by Sharland for his hat-trick.

Rowe kicked his third conversion to give Wiveliscombe a 21-14 lead at the interval.

Playing with the wind at their backs after the restart, the visitors took a comfortable lead in the third quarter, scoring three more tries.

Youngster Callum Lane crossed for two, both following good work by the visiting forwards.

Rowe continued his good form with the boot to give his side a 33-14 lead, which was increased when Sharland crossed for his fourth try of the game.

Wivey have always struggled to prevent Weston from finishing strongly in the last quarter of this fixture, and it looked as though the home team might overhaul the visitors again, as they scored two quick converted tries.

Winger Mike McCarthy and back row forward Blain Tottle scored the tries, Tilsley converting both, and now the home side were within 10 points of the visitors.

But this time Wiveliscombe held on to their lead, to gain their sixth consecutive win of the season and stay top of the Somerset Premier table.

Wivey had to make several changes to their line-up for this match, so credit must go to the players who made appearances for their first game of the season.

Centres Luke Brown and Ryan Overthrow played a major role in the victory considering they had never played together.

***

Somerset Premier
Nailsea & Backwell 45, Minehead Barbarians 26

A TOUGH scoreline for the Barbarians, but there were a lot of positives on the pitch and the game was close until the last 10 minutes when the home side pulled away.

The pitch at Nailsea has a significant slope, so if you are playing up the hill your defence has to be tight from the word go.

Unfortunately, from the kick-off the home side were able to recover the ball, make repeated drives into Barbarian territory and gain a five metre line-out.

A smooth catch and drive gave them a very early score, and not long after, the hosts scored another almost identical try.

The Barbarians attacked determinedly, and Pring got them on the board with two penalties.

Nailsea’s game plan was based around getting big forward runners driving hard into the Minehead midfield, and gained some success with this despite the young Barbarians efforts.

These heavy runners created an overlap which saw the home team's wing cross.

The Barbarians then lost one of their key players, Pring, to injury, with Will Hawker coming on.

But their efforts took them back near the home line, Willes caught the lineout and Hole raced through a gap to score under the posts, Joel Lynch converting.

Minehead were now playing with confidence, but a touch of over confidence saw a long pass intercepted, and the Nailsea player score.

The game swung one way and then the other, as Hole punched through and won another penalty kicked by Lynch.

The second half started with another Lynch penalty, and good defensive play from Willes, Richards, and Parker kept the home side at bay.

Two penalties stretched the Nailsea lead, before Minehead struck back again.

This time it was an excellent break by Hawker which opened up the defence, Gower supported and was high tackled, but the ball still found Day who crossed for the converted try.

With the game still in the balance, the Barbarians were disappointed to concede a try after the ball had not looked straight at the lineout.

Minehead were now starting to struggle with injuries and the late tries scored by the home team gave them a flattering margin of victory.

There was more success for Minehead 2nd XV, who beat Wiveliscombe 2nds in Somerset 2 South on Saturday.

Tries from Mark Richings, Miles Clarke (2) and George Buckingham won the day for the Barbarians.