Webb Ellis Somerset Cup Pool B: Wellington Chiefs 5-12 Weston United

A SHORT 45-minute drive saw Weston United arrive at a soft-under-foot Wellington pitch that had just passed a pitch inspection earlier that morning for their first tie in this season’s Pool B of the Webb Ellis Somerset Cup.

After a short period of sustained pressure, wing Huw Morgan broke through to finish Weston's first try of the afternoon.

Fly-half Archie Tilsley stepped up to slot away the conversion for a 7-0 lead.

This boded well for the rest of the game, leaving the home supporters concerned that this could be a long afternoon.

However, Wellington had other ideas especially as they had a home 38-12 victory over Taunton Warriors in their opening Pool tie.

After ten minutes, they found themselves asking questions of the Weston defence, and when one of our lineout throws landed with Wellington, they took the initiative and smartly pushed through to put a try on the board but the conversion was missed.

Most of the first half was spent inside Wellington's 22-metre area but Weston could not convert this possession and territory to points, despite having multiple scrums, which culminated in a drive that looked certain to result in a try, only for Weston to be penalised for not driving straight.

The half ended 7-5 in favour of the visitors and the second half was also a story of 22-metre rugby. The first 15 minutes saw Wellington severely testing the Weston back line. This led to a yellow card for lock Ashley Russell.

Wellington could not take advantage of the extra man, and a penalty against the home side allowed No.8 Andy Glen to tap, run and storm away from the Weston 22 to the halfway line with Wellington players mainly bystanders.

Most of the rest of the game was spent inside Wellington's half. The replacements were used extensively, with Adam Fisher on for captain Sam Coles, Stephen Donegan on for tighthead prop Charlie Owens, and Dan Lomax on for Tilsley.

Some stout defending from the home team held Weston at bay until Lomax burst through a gap in the defence to land Weston's second try of the afternoon.

A failed conversion left the score at 12-5.

Wellington had their own period of pressure late in the game, but a missed penalty and a resolute Weston defence left the home team unable to turn the game around.

A deserved win for Weston, given the balance of play, possession, and territory, but both teams are probably coming away thinking about those missed opportunities.