Western Counties N

Matson 41, Wellington 7

AN away trip to table-topping Matson, who are unbeaten this season, was always going to be a tough game and so it proved on Saturday.

Kicking off down the hill with the wind at their backs, Wellington went behind after four minutes.

Matson’s pack, although small, were very well drilled and caught and drove a lineout early on deep into the Wellington 22; from the resulting ruck they went over wide out. The conversion took the hosts into an early seven-point lead.

Wellington controlled the game for a period after this with the scrum looking particularly solid.

It was disappointing, therefore, when a couple of penalties allowed Matson to catch and drive another lineout, and a couple of phases later scored in the corner.

On 20 minutes, the ball was spun wide to George Hodgson who used his dancing feet and pace to go between two defenders untouched to score.

Matt Parsons added the extras to bring Wellington right back into the game.

Unfortunately, it was short lived when, a few minutes’ later, Parsons' clearance kick was charged down and the ball bounced kindly for Matson back into their fly half’s hands for him to run over unopposed.

Turning around at 19-6 wasn’t a complete disaster as for long periods Wellington were in the ascendancy.

However, any ideas of a comeback were snuffed out straight from the re-start when soft tackling allowed the home side in for another score.

A further four tries left the final score 41-7 which appears like a thrashing, but this never was.

There were momentary lapses in concentration which at this level get punished. For long periods, Wellington matched Matson which, when you consider their league position, is really promising.

In addition, full-back Tom Hawkings looked very secure under the high ball; the Price brothers, Ollie and Ben, both had good games; and young Joe Lewis came off the bench for his first team debut.

With a bit more experience this will be a formidable team.