WITH no game for Wellington AFC’s firsts or A team at the weekend, the spotlight fell on the promotion chasing reserves.
They made it six successive wins with an excellent performance against Teignmouth 2nds at the Playing Field.
Their last loss came at the hands of Hatherleigh Town, a narrow 1-0 home defeat way back in December.
Since then they have beaten Teignmouth 2nds 2-1 on Saturday, they have registered home and away wins against Ottery St Mary Reserves 5-3 and 3-1 respectively, ran out narrow 1-0 winners at Teignmouth 2nds, enjoyed a 3-1 success at Lympstone and a 1-0 home win against Newton St Cyres.
It was a must-win game for the Tangerines with the visitors also in a good position and having a game in hand.
Mark Owen, Tom Hawkings and Ken Pearson were the management team on the day – with Mike Owen away on holiday – and, as there was no game for the first team, their manager Richard Cherry also helped out, making some tactical decisions and being a great support to the squad.
It wasn’t the best start to a game with Wellington giving away a penalty in the fourth minute of the game.
The kick was a good one but young keeper Charlie Hawkings stepped up and pulled off a fine save.
After a shaky start, the Tangerines started to control the game which was proving to be difficult at times due to the strength and size of several of the away team’s players.
In the 15th minute, going down the hill, Gabriel Plant was played through and took his chance brilliantly, slotting the ball into the bottom corner and leaving the keeper with no chance.
Despite Wellington being the better team, Teignmouth were still a handful and created a few half chances, but it stayed 1-0 until half time.
With a good chat from the management team at the break, Wellington were ready to go again and came out the better side.
They struggled to find the next goal until a slice of luck came their way when an Oli Nott cross was turned into the Teignmouth net by their central defender for an own goal.
All Wellington had to do was hold out to the end but a defensive error gifted Teignmouth a goal in the 80th minute.
The visitors were now looking for a draw and did everything they could to find the equaliser.
But every Wellington player defended superbly with a special mention for man-of-the-match Charlie Hawkings who kept them in the game on several occasions.
The victory sees Wellington sitting in third place and they need to maintain focus for their next game at home to Dawlish United on March 30th.
Dawlish are bottom of table with 15 defeats in 15 outings but their young side has been praised for their efforts and commitment.
They have not played many games recently because of the poor weather.
They were beaten 6-2 by Teignmouth 2nds on 2 February in a match where they created a number of good chances and gave the visitors a good game but suffered a heavy 13-0 defeat in their last fixture against a strong University of Exeter side who are fighting for the title.
Man-of-the-match was keeper Charlie Hawkings, who is pictured with Lauren Currie of award sponsors My Dentist, Station Road, and players from Wellington U9s.