Western Counties West
Sidmouth 6, Wellington 10

WELLINGTON, with several enforced changes, travelled to the sunny Devon coast on Saturday to take on a strong Sidmouth side, writes Allyn Chetland.

Buoyed by the vocal encouragement of the 40 or so past players on their ‘away day’, the Red & Blacks put in a tremendous performance.

Playing down the slight slope in the first half, Wellington started strongly from the kick off and pressured Sidmouth outside their 22. 

From the set piece the Welly eight set their stall out and drove their opponents back, but somehow the home side managed to clear their lines.

Welly continually tried to keep the ball alive, and a good run by winger Hodgson was continued by hooker Joe Dyke, who was held up in support and illegally stopped by Sidmouth. 

After the penalty kick was put in the corner, the lineout throw went to Chris Kitto and the chiefs eight drove towards the line with growing momentum and Dyke dotted down for the try. 

The conversion by Paddy Jarman hit the post and unfortunately bounced out.

Continued aggressive defence by the Welly midfield provided several turnover and counter attack opportunities all being just thwarted by the greens stretched defence. 

On 30 minutes more expansive play by Welly ended due to poor distribution and Sidmouth countered and pressured on the Welly line. 

It took great defence by Welly and a big regain by Ben Hayman to clear the danger, Hodgson completed the job with a clearance kick which ended up in the Sidmouth 22. 

Welly then surged forward again and got their reward when Hayman broke from the back of the maul to power over in the corner, with the conversion again missed.

Wellington’s dominance at the scrum began to wane and Sidmouth capitalised with territory and possession, getting themselves on the scoreboard on the half-time whistle to reduce the deficit to seven points. 

On 50 minutes, Sidmouth moved the ball wide after a lineout and play broke down in front of the chiefs posts. 

The referee blew for a penalty to Sidmouth and, rather harshly, showed flanker Liam Phillips a yellow card before Sidmouth took the  three points to set up a grandstand finish.

The chiefs had to dig deep and resolute defence managed to keep the greens out despite some tense moments.

With 30 seconds to go, Welly found touch with a penalty, caught the lineout and kept the ball in their possession for long enough to kick the ball out and bring an end to an enthralling encounter.

This was a wonderful team effort, the result of which probably surprised many, but several of Welly’s relegation rivals also won so the Red & Blacks remain bottom going into this weekend.

The challenge now is to take this form and determination into their must-win home game against mid-table St Ives on Saturday.