Western Counties West
Paignton 12, Wellington 19

WELLINGTON travelled to the Devon seaside on Saturday for what was always going to be a tricky encounter despite the hosts' lowly league position, writes Allyn Chetland.

For the Red & Blacks, prop Ollie Price came into the squad, replacing the unwell Josh Hancock; otherwise it was an unchanged squad from the previous week.

Paignton are currently propping up the league, but to their credit they dominated territory and possession throughout the first half, with the R&Bs only really threatening in the closing minutes of the half.

Despite this advantage Paignton found it hard to break down the visiting defence, with only one try to show for their efforts via a crossfield kick, so it was 5-0 at half time.

The second half was much better for Wellington in terms of possession and territory, which meant they could put phases of attacking play together.

Soon after the restart, flanker Danny Lee crashed over for a try following a well-orchestrated attack involving the majority of the team.

Full-back Alex Davey converted the try despite the tight angle, to put his side ahead.

Buoyed by this score, the R&Bs had their best patch of the match, looking threatening on numerous occasions.

One such attack saw centre Vinny Gordan score another well-worked try after a Paignton attack had broken down just outside the visitors' 22m.

Davey was again successful with the conversion to extend the lead to 14-5.

The home side replied with a close-range converted try soon after, following a period of pressure on the Wellington try-line, to reduce the lead to two points.

The game was on a knife-edge now, with both teams looking for the score that would almost certainly win the game.

The R&Bs found themselves in a promising position just inside their own half, captain Patrick Jarman saw a chink in Paignton’s defensive line and exploited it fully with a shearing break.

A superb chip ahead was regathered and flanker Liam Phillips was on hand to thunder over wide out for an unconverted try, making the score 19-12.

Paignton pressed hard at the death, looking for a try and conversion to even the score, but despite their best efforts they could not break down the resolute defence.

A superb covering tackle by Danny Lee in the dying minutes on Paignton’s winger epitomised the R&Bs' desire to come away with the spoils.

While not hitting the performance levels of their last two outings, this was an excellent and hard-fought victory for Wellington, as Paignton threw everything they had at them, as they desperately try to climb out of the relegation places.

Wellington squad: J.Richards, J.Dyke, R.Marke, R.Walker, C.Kitto, D.Lee, L.Phillips, C.Venn, D.Goldstone, P.Jarman (c), T.Hart, V.Gordon, G.Hodgson, N.Pitman, A.Davey, M.Walker, O.Price, R.Hooper

Next week the R&Bs make the short trip south to local neighbours Tiverton; the Devon side are lying just below them in the league.

When the sides met at the beginning of the season, Wellington ran out winners in what turned out to be a close and physical match, as local derbies usually are.