Somerset 1

Wellington 2nd XV 49, Chard 2nd XV 0

WELLINGTON put in a near-faultless performance on Saturday with a nine-try romp in front of a large home crowd.

The match saw a welcome return for Micky Norman who has been suffering from a reccurring groin injury for the past seven months. Stalwart club man Andy Meale also played a full 80 minutes in the second row.

The writing was on the wall very early on and it was clear Wellington were the dominant side. The front row of Mike Lockyer, Rob Mangham and Graham Miller were in complete ascendancy all afternoon and, with such a solid platform, the backs had a plethora of ball to use.

First on the scoresheet was Henry Roffe-Silvester, who was then unfortunate to be knocked unconscious almost immediately following the restart after scoring his try. He was replaced by promising back rower Ben Hayman who proved to be a very competent understudy.

Next to score was Mike Perry after a Chard scrum was wheeled close to their line, the ever-present Number 8 being quick enough to the loose ball to score his first try of the season. This was quickly followed by a try for Stephen Mason which was converted by Dan Hinton.

On the half-hour mark, Hayman had to leave the field for treatment which introduced Norman into the match, Perry moving to 6 allowing Norman to take control at the base of the scrum.

He made his presence felt immediately with a great turnover and drive at the Chard defenders, and when Wellington were awarded a 5 metre scrum there was only going to be one outcome as Norman picked and brushed aside tacklers to score his first of four tries of the afternoon.

Turning around to play down the slope, Wellington continued where they had left off when Jack Spurway was the beneficiary after a training ground lineout move was executed close to the visitors’ line, the winger managing to grab the ball after Chard had almost read the first attack.

The unstoppable Norman then scorde three tries, two coming from picks from the back of a scrum and another from a pass close in.

With the Chard defence tiring the Wellington back line linked together beautifully to polish off the match with a length-of-the-field move which saw stocky centre Luke Parsons-Browne dive in under the posts to leave Mason with the easiest of conversions.

If Wellington can play like this for the remaining three matches they could finish fifth in the table, which would be very respectable in a tough league.

l Next match up is Bridgwater 2nd XV tomorrow (Thursday), ko 7.30pm.