Wellington 2, Shepton Mallet 1

Jewson Western League premier division

DESPITE still being without a string of players through injury and illness, Wellington made it three wins in eight days at the Playing Field on Saturday.

Manager Richard Cherry was again forced to field a patched-up squad, including Reserves players Charlie Hawkings in goal, Wes Poulsom out wide and defender Connor Noble, a second half sub.

But they all did him proud with 19-year-old keeper Hawkings picking up the man-of-the-match award.

He received the award from club helper and supporter Daniel Aspin on behalf of C&C Carpets, Curtains, Beds and Blinds, who sponsored the game.

On picking his team manager Cherry said: “You couldn’t write it down before we started. I was wondering which positions we were going to play in.

“Do the boys know what we’re asking them to do, because there was some new boys coming in?

“What a performance they’ve put in, they got tight, got narrow. They did so well. It was unbelievable.

“Charlie Hawkings in goal today was superb. When you look at the game as a complete whole we were worth all the three points.”

Shepton, who thumped Wellington 5-1 when the sides met last month, were on top early on and nearly went ahead as Charlie Bateson’s header hit the underside of the bar and was ruled not to have crossed the line as it bounced down.

Against the run of play, Wellington took the lead after 19 minutes when a Shepton defender was ruled to have handled in the box and skipper Sam Towler stepped up to stroke home the resulting penalty.

The visitors fought to get back on terms but were thwarted by some dogged defending along with a fine save by Hawkings from a Bateson free kick.

It remained 1-0 until the break and Wellington then doubled their lead on the hour mark.

Towler swung over a corner from the left and big striker Matt Crawley marked his return to the side with an unstoppable header.

Shepton pegged Wellington back for long periods as they attempted to get back into the game.

But there was no way through until they finally pulled a goal back in stoppage time with player-manager Aaron Seviour’s low drive going through a crowd of players into the net.

That sent up an anxious few minutes for the Tangerines but they held out for another excellent win which lifted them up into 13th place in the table.

Wellington: Charlie Hawkings, Sam Gleeson, Tom Stone, Jason Quick, Ryan Hibbert, Nathan Byrne, Sam Towler, Mark Cornish, Wes Poulsom, Jake Quick, Matt Crawley. Substitutes: Josh Lukins and Connor Noble (used); Matt Hesford (not used).