RUGBY: Minehead Barbarians score 66 against Wellington for sixth consecutive victory

MINEHEAD travelled to Wellington last Saturday and came away with their sixth consecutive victory to maintain their position just one point behind league leaders Bristol Barbarians.

They played an expansive game of rugby running the ball from the kick-off to test the Wellington defence and, for the first ten minute,s Wellington did stem the flow.

Then, from a lineout on the 22, Harris hit Cox in the lineout and the pack then drove the Wellington forwards back down the park to open the scoring.

It was clear that Minehead's pack were more dominant and they secured most of the lineout ball with Cox and Willes effective as they have been for the last month.

Minehead did lose their heads and stopped using their game plan for a period of the first half, aimlessly kicking the ball back to the Wellington wings and full-back.

This prevented Minehead adding to their score as they were stronger running with ball in hand.

By half-time, the score was 31-0 with Ryan Lewis, Parsons, Cox and Sam Lewis crossing the whitewash with Kyle Lewis hitting three out of his five conversions.

The second half saw more of the same running rugby from Minehead, with Henson, J. Parker, and Crusher coming off the bench to add fresh legs and keep the high tempo of the game which Wellington struggled to cope with.

From the kick-off, Harry Simms collected the ball and chose a sweet line to hand off the Wellington full-back and race in under the posts from 60 metres out.

Cox bagged another two tries to take his tally to three, with R. Lewis, K. Lewis, Bradley and Swann each adding further tries throughout the second half.

Wellington didn’t get into the Minehead 22 in the second half and Minehead's defence continues to impress with Ninnis and Lewis offering a solid centre partnership and the likes of L. Parker and Greg Richards carrying out their usual dogged work ensuring clean ball for the backs.

This weekend sees the 1st XV play bottom-of-the-table Castle Cary and coach Mick Orton will be looking for another good game before Minehead face two tough teams in Old Sulians and Chew Valley before Christmas.

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Wellington Under-13s 5, Minehead Under-13s 55

IN THE initial exchanges, Minehead proved the more physical, driving their opposition off the ball.

Having secured turn-over ball, Farley Bruce rode several tackles and fed Lawrence Sandy who side-stepped inside the last defender to open the scoring.

Isaac Sweetland then held up the ball carrier in the tackle, with other players joining to drive the maul back.

He ripped the ball clear and passed to Ben Summersgill who fended off a tackler to score.

Minehead showed some impressive quick rucking to prevent Wellington slowing down possession.

The ball was passed from one wing to the other where Joe Stevens showed strength and skill to score.

With Minehead on top at the breakdown, Farley Bruce capitalised with two quick tries - the first a break from a driving maul and the second following some exemplary offloading in the tackle.

With the last play of the half called by the referee, the team were architects of the own demise.

A speculative long pass was intercepted and the Wellington player cantered over the Minehead line to close the half at 25-5.

Minehead began the second half in a decisive manner. Josh Govier used his strength to rip the ball out of a maul, he drove several metres before passing to Summersgill who weaved past defenders to score.

Given a free pass 15 metres from the try line, Nathaniel Coates took the ball in and set up and driving maul.

The ball was passed to the back where Govier took control and, nearing the line, broke free to dive over.

Sandy then caught a clearing kick and fended tackles to score. Summersgill outpaced the cover defence to score and Jack Lintern finished off a team move.

Wellington proved their mental strength late on, coming close to scoring on several occasions, only to be denied by some ferocious tackling.

Player of the Day - Jack Lewis; Player of Steel - Farley Bruce.

Minehead: Oliver Bisset, Oliver Bretherton, Ethan Carr, Seb Chip, Nathaniel Coates, Farley Bruce, Josh Govier, Charlie Gunter, Jack Lewis, Jack Lintern, Jude Murray, Lawrence Sandy, Joe Stevens, Ben Summersgill, Isaac Sweetland, Luke Westcott, Jacob Whittaker.