South West Counties Intermediate Cup final
Bideford 5, Wellington 14

WELLINGTON travelled to Bideford last Saturday for the South West Counties Intermediate Cup final, and came away with the silverware after another good performance, writes Allyn Chetland.

While the weather conditions were not as bad the previous week, there was still a strong breeze and rain throughout.

Playing against the elements in the first half, the Red & Blacks expected to find themselves penned deep into their own territory.

However, although Bideford had plenty of possession, the hosts rarely ventured into the Wellington 22, with the majority of the opening 40 minutes being played in and around the halfway line.

By contrast, whenever the R&Bs got their hands on the ball they looked threatening, stretching Bideford’s defence to breaking point on numerous occasions.

They opened the scoring from one such attack, with 15 minutes of the remaining, when Liam Phiilips crashed over for an unconverted try to make it 5-0 at half-time.

With the elements now in the visitors' favour, they were putting pressure on the home side.

Bideford were penalised at the breakdown, and full-back Rob Hooper drilled the ball between the posts for 8-0.

Then it was Wellington's turn to concede a series of penalties, and Bideford took full advantage to cross for an unconverted try following a 15-man driving lineout.

Stung by this setback, the R&Bs went back on the offensive, with winger Ash Harney to the fore.

The pressure on Bideford mounted, and two penalties were the result, with both being dispatched by Hooper to make the final score 14-5.

Wellington squad: Richards, Phillips, Marke, M Walker, R Walker, Venn, Lee, Kitto, Goldstone, Jarman (c), Harney, Hodgson, Gordan, Davey, Hooper, Sestaret, Hancock, Howe, Crosby, Gamlin, Pitman, Hawkings.

This victory sees the R&Bs progress to the South West Divisional Intermediate Cup final, where they will play Swindon RFC on March 14; the game will be played at Swindon.

This coming Saturday sees Wellington return to league action, with Teignmouth the visitors to the Athletic Ground (2.30pm).

Teignmouth are currently lying in fourth place in the league, so this is sure to be a difficult fixture.