Western Counties West

Wellington 60, Truro 21

WELLINGTON welcomed Truro to Corams Lane last Saturday, and the hosts claimed a comprehensive victory, writes Allyn Chetland.

Cam Venn, Ryan Marke and Rob Hooper all came into the starting line-up – replacing Danny Lee, Nev Pitman and Ollie Price – with Will Brewer, Andrew Bellamy and Price on the bench.

Playing towards the clubhouse in the first half, the Red & Blacks were quick out of the blocks and went onto dominate the half in points scored, as well as territory and possession.

Captain Paddy Jarman opened the scoring, catching Truro’s defence napping with a quickly-taken tap penalty.

Full-back Alex Davey made no mistake with the conversion.

Further tries followed from hooker Joe Dyke, and a brace by hard-running winger Rob Hooper.

Another two came from Davey, who added two conversions to give the R&Bs an impressive lead going into the break.

The hosts started the second half slowly, taking 10 minutes to get back into their stride.

Once they did, they began to dominate again and the tries started flowing once more.

Hooper and Davey crossed for hat-trick tries, and prop Ryan Marke emerged from a pile of bodies after a well-executed driving maul to claim a try.

Replacement prop Price galloped in from more than 40 metres, outpacing the visitors' winger in the process, to also get on the scoresheet; Davey was successful with two conversions.

With a substantial lead the R&Bs did ease back at times, and the Cornish side exploited this to run in three well-worked tries of their own, two of which were converted to make the final score 60-21.

This was an outstanding victory for Wellington in all aspects of the game, with all the squad making valuable contributions.

Truro just could not come to terms with the pace and continuity on display from the hosts, for whom Liam Phillips and Jack Richards put in impressive shifts.

Wellington squad: J.Richards, J.Dyke, R.Marke, R.Walker, C.Kitto, M.Walker, L.Phillips, C.Venn, D.Goldstone, P.Jarman (c), T.Hart, V.Gordon, G.Hodgson, R.Hooper, A.Davey, A.Bellamy, O.Price, W.Brewer.

With third-placed St Austell beaten at Chard, Wellington moved to within two points of them – and six points off leaders Crediton.

Sidmouth are in second, with each of the top four teams separated by two points.

Crediton visit the Athletic Ground for a rearranged fixture this coming Saturday.

When the sides met at the beginning of the season in Devon, Wellington lost by a single point, with the final kick of the game going just wide for the visitors.

This is sure to be a tough and gruelling encounter against the current league leaders; to make amends for the early season loss the R&Bs will need to be firing on all cylinders.

Somerset Premier

Wiveliscombe 39, St Bernadettes Old Boys 14

WIVELISCOMBE proved too strong for their visitors from Bristol, who found themselves 32-0 down at half-time, writes Roger Bellamy.

Playing with the slope and a good breeze in the first half, the home team secured the four-try bonus point within 17 minutes.

The home team’s top try scorer Jake Shraland crossed for four tries, all finished off after moves along the top touchline after quick hands by his fellow backs.

George Rowe converted one try to give his team a 22-0 lead.

Bernadettes had their moments but rarely threatened Wivey’s tryline.

The visitors young threes look dangerous but lacked the finishing touch.

Wiveliscombe, on the other hand took full advantage of good possession supplied by their forwards to create another two first half tries from second row Ross Pearson and prop Will Ellis.

Playing down the slope in the second half, Bernadettes gave a good account of themselves and crossed for an early try from Callum Quirks which Paul Smart converted.

Wiveliscombe persisted with theiropen style of play and were rewarded with a seventh try from right wing Sam Gibbons.

George Rowe converted to give his team a 39-7 lead.

Bernadettes, to their credit, stayed in the game and took advantage of a home team reduced to 13 players after receiving yellow cards.

A penalty try gave a respectable look to the final score after the home team adjudged to have collapsed a driving maul.

The league title looks like being decided between Wivey and Burnham-on-Sea, with Burnham having a game in hand over the last few games of the season.

Somerset 2 South

Winscombe 2nds 46, Wiveliscombe 2nds 5

WIVELISCOMBE’S second team were always going to find second-placed Winscombe seconds a tough proposition on their home ground and that's how it turned out.

Wiveliscombe, third from bottom, must try and avoid those last two places to remain in the Somerset Two South league next season.

There are no games this weekend for either side.

Wivey return to action at Minehead Barbarians on March 23, on which date the 2nds travel to Morganians.