WELLINGTON Under 15s travelled to Taunton with a squad of only 16 - and defied all the odds by pulling off a fabulous 22-19 victory

Taunton were second in the league, having only lost one of their seven games while Wellington were third, having won four of their seven games.

Wellington started strongly, picking up from their second half performance against Tiverton the previous weekend. The rucking in particular was a level up on previous weeks, regularly turning the ball over from Taunton possession and the tackling was as solid as it always is. There was also some intelligent kicking from Jack at scrum half and CJ at flyhalf that turned the Taunton defence and some strong chasing put pressure on the Taunton backs.

Wellington opened the scoring first with CJ running from inside his own half to dot down. Wellington continued to put pressure on Taunton and won a series of penalties that allowed CJ to kick for touch to near the Taunton line. Another strong drive from the line out saw Alex break through to run the ball under the posts for five points and CJ added the conversion to make it 12-0.

Taunton made some substitutions early and then had a period of sustained pressure on the Wellington line but outstanding tackling saw Wellington hold out and jackal the ball literally under their own posts to win a penalty and allow them to clear their line. The score at half time was Wellington 12, Taunton 0.

The defensive effort took is toll unfortunately with two Wellington players, Tom and Riley having to leave the field with head injuries meaning that with the lack of subs for Wellington the match went down to fourteen aside. The second half started evenly with both sides moving the ball well and defending solidly.

It was Taunton though who scored first taking the score to 12-5. Wellington hit back with CJ scoring another try to extend Wellington’s lead to 17-5. Unfortunately Seth then had to come off with an injured shoulder with both teams going to thirteen players and uncontested scrums as a result.

With time running out, the warm weather, the intense play and playing against a team rolling subs on and off, the Wellington boys began to tire and Taunton were able to run in two tries in quick succession to take the lead at 17-19.

Wellington, these days, are incredibly resilient and have a never say-die attitude. They keep playing to the end and leave everything on the pitch. A short kick off was regathered superbly by Alex and the boys did what they do best - running hard, recycling the ball well and passing well. This saw CJ break down the line to score the winning try, and his hat trick of tries, in the corner with the last play of the game.

There were some standout performances across the team. Theo put in a massive shift with 21 tackles and Salvador made some try saving tackles knocking opposing players back on a regular basis.

The strength of character the team is showing now has come from those tougher times and the coaches deserve huge credit for the progress the boys have made and the team they have turned into. Wellington finished third in the league behind Chard. who were unbeaten. and Taunton. Player of the match was CJ.

DF