WELLILNGTON 2nds completed their pre-Christmas programme with a 21-10 defeat of Keynsham 2nds in Tribute Somerset 2.

In complete contrast to their previous week’s result, where it was simply a case of turning up to beat the bottom of the table side, Wellington had to battle hard all match to claim victory against a team that was playing one division higher last season.

Wellington welcomed back Chris Kitto at No8 and he was ably assisted by Scott Davey and Mike Steer – all three products of the Wellington youth set up and all three of whom enjoyed outstanding games. The match was won at the breakdown where thanks to the back row the home side had the edge all afternoon.

That’s not the say the rest of the team didn’t play their part.

Half-backs Matt Maddocks and Brett Perry ran the game intelligently and Stephen Mason has really started to make the No15 shirt his own. Leigh Cash was unlucky to have to give up the scrum-half shirt due to selection issues but showed his versatility by still having a fine game on the wing.

All the other players ran themselves to a standstill and played on with injuries for the sake of the team.

Wellington opened the scoring with a Mason penalty cancelled out by Adam Teasdale for the visitors. Teasdale then added a conversion to a Mike Lloyd try to give Keynsham a 10-3 lead. Mason added another three points to keep Wellington in touch before a series of drives at the home line were repelled time and time again as the half drew to a close. This period of play proved to be the turning point in the match.

Keynsham’s heads dropped as they seemed to realise that Wellington were not going to surrender their line again easily. The next score was key and Mason duly added another penalty to reduce the deficit to a single point. The momentum was clearly Wellington’s now, and with Kitto and Steer in fine form, the ball was recycled three or four times to leave Davey just enough room to score in the corner. Mason was unlucky with the conversion attempt.

Wellington continued to keep the pressure on and despite losing a bit of ground in the scrummages they held superiority in the line-outs.

Simple, basic calls led to guaranteed ball which they managed to convert to more points when Steer crashed over for a well- deserved try. Mason converted to push his individual points tally above last season’s figure which bodes well for the rest of the campaign.

With an 11-point cushion and three minutes to play, Wellington knew they had won the match which finished in the same manner as the first half. Keynsham camped on the Wellington line, trying to earn a losing bonus point, with Wellington resolute in their defence. With other league results finishing favourably for Wellington there is now some daylight between them and the bottom of the table which should hopefully relieve some pressure on a side that is clearly on the up.

Wellington: Tredwin, Maggs, Westcott, Turney, Pepperill, Steer, Davey, Kitto, Maddocks, Perry, Coles, Bellamy, Rottenbury, Cash, Mason, Perry, Bellamy.