FOOTBALL: Heavy home defeat for Wellington (From This is The West Country)

FOOTBALL: Heavy home defeat for Wellington

11:14am Sunday 9th September 2012 in Sport

Wellington crashed to a disappointing 4-0 defeat at home to Devizes yesterday in the clash of the sides who finished in the bottom two places of the Toolstation league, division one last season.

With three key players still out injured and two more unavailable, Wellington were always going to be up against it but the re-shaped side never really got into their stride after the excellent win at Cheddar the previous week.

A scrappy first half saw Devizes take a 1-0 lead into the interval thanks to Ryan Welland’s long-range strike which sailed over keeper Callum O’Brien after 16 minutes.

Wellington almost equalised early in the second half as a shot from their outstanding player, Matty Pounde, smacked against the crossbar.

And the game’s defining moment came on the hour when Devizes substitute Marcus Wallen bundled the ball home from close range with the home side appealing in vain for offside – manager Colin Merrick’s protests ending in him being ordered to the stand for the rest of the game.

Five minutes later, the match was virtually over as O’Brien failed to claim a corner and striker Neil Clark drove the ball into the net to make it 3-0.

Merrick had thrown on young striker Joe Conway in a bid to boost their attack and he was denied a second goal in successive games as he suffered the same fact as Pounde when his chip came back off the bar.

And, to rub salt into Wellington’s wounds, the Wiltshire side added a fourth in the dying minutes when skipper Liam Hill scored with a spectacular shot for the best goal of the game.

Wellington: Callum O’Brien, Ashley Parker, Ollie Feltham, Tom Ellis, Jack Adams, Charlie Collins, Sam Towler, Adam Cook, Matty Pounde, Max Westlake, Dale Webber. Substitutes, Joe Conway, Luke Redrup and Josh Martin (used), Will Hopkins (not used). Match sponsor: AJ Shire Electrical.

Wellington Reserves also went down to defeat – losing 3-1 at Bow AAC in division one of the Devon and Exeter League.