Somerset Premier
Nailsea & Blackwell 24, Wiveliscombe 26

WIVELISCOMBE were made to work hard for their victory on Saturday, with hosts Nailsea & Backwell mounting a late three-try surge which nearly won them the game, writes Roger Bellamy.

Playing down the considerable slope in the first half, Wivey crossed for two tries after the home defence was breached following continuous pressure. 

Scrum-half Hugh Kelly finished off a good drive by his forwards to open the scoring, with fly-half Dan Quick converting.

Flanker Findlay Grafton then scored from a similar situation, with Quick again adding the extras to give Wivey a 14-0 half-time lead.

Nailsea had shown on the odd occasion in the first half that, given possession, their three-quarters were more than capable of scoring tries. 

The visitors were missing some of their regular backs, and had to play two wing forwards on the wings for most of the second half. 

Fortunately the pack were as reliable as ever, proving a handful for the home forwards throughout the game.

Wivey increased their lead to 21-0 with a third try from the returning Daniel Smythe Moore, and Dan Quick slotted his third conversion. 

The home team finally got on the scoreboard with a try from Matt Thomas, after he outpaced the visiting defence, but prop Matt Ellis showed good strength to score Wivey's bonus-point try and give his side a 26-5 lead.

However, as the game went on, the away side were finding it increasingly difficult to contain the Nailsea threes when they had possession, which they used to score three tries in a 15-minute period to create a tense finish to the game. 

Harry Marshall scored twice, with Nick Badcock adding the home team's fourth try, but Jamie Elswood could only convert twice, and so the visitors escaped with a 26-24 win.

The result sees Wivey remain second in the Somerset Premier table, seven points off leaders Gordano with a game in hand, and six points ahead of Avon in third.

Wiveliscombe 2nds' home game against Burnham-on-Sea 2nds was cancelled, with Burnham unable to raise a team.

On Wednesday, Wivey's 1st XV host Weston-super-Mare 2nds and this Saturday brings another home game, against St Bernadettes Old Boys (ko 3pm), while the 2nd XV are away to Chard 2nds.

Cornwall & Devon
Wellington 62, Hayle 0

LEAGUE leaders Wellington welcomed Hayle to The Athletic Ground last Saturday for was supposed to be a league game but was eventually played as a friendly game due to the visitors being unable to field a full XV, writes Allyn Chetland.

As a result the starting Hayle XV contained numerous guest players, meaning the Red & Blacks were awarded the win and the five league points before a ball was kicked in anger. 

The one consolation for the visitors was that they were not deducted league points by honouring the fixture.

Chris Batts replaced the unavailable Ben Gamlin in the starting line-up for the home side, with Chris Kitto and Alex Johnson taking spots on the bench.

Playing conditions were a vast improvement to the previous week and the game actually started in glorious sunshine; a pleasant change considering the recent inclement weather

The R&Bs started brightly, scoring in the opening minutes, and this trend continued throughout the whole of the match as they went into half time 36 points to the good.

Once the game resumed, the hosts continued in the same vein – well on top. 

Hayle had no real response to the pace and continuity that was on display from Wellington, the visitors rarely getting out of their own half. 

Hayle were reduced to 14 following an injury, and the R&Bs withdrew a player of their own to accommodate this loss to play the game in the correct spirit as friendly games should. 

However with 65 minutes gone, Hayle lost another player to injury and at this point both teams, and the referee, decided to call an early halt to proceedings, the final score being 62-0 to Wellington.

The try scorers were Will Hinchcliffe (2), Alex Johnson (2), Liam Phillips, Corey Jenkinson, Joe Dyke, George Hodgson, Nev Pitman and captain Patrick Jarman. 

Alex Davey kicked six conversions.

Next week sees fourth-placed Honiton visit The Athletic Ground for the penultimate league game of the season.

The R&Bs will be looking to avenge their controversial defeat in the first game of the season against the same opponents. 

However, they will need to be on top form to achieve this, as Honiton have hit a purple patch of form of late, most notably beating third-placed Saltash.

Saltash did do Wellington a favour last weekend, winning 25-22 at second-placed Penryn, so the table-toppers' advantage is now 10 points with two games left.

Wellington: J. Rowlands, J. Dyke, L. Wadham, S. Kiddle, R. Walker, W. Hinchcliffe, L. Phillips, D. Lee, T. Jenkinson, P. Jarman (c), C. Jenkinson, G. Hodgson, C. Batts, N. Pitman, C. Batts, A. Davey, J. Hancock, C. Kitto, A. Johnson.