Teignmouth reached the half-way point In their first ever

Wellington have plenty of experience at this level, but they were blown away in the first half despite having a large band of noisy supporters cheering them on. Indeed, the first 40 minutes were quite similar to the Teigns’ defeat the previous week at Ivybridge, with the home side running in five tries and wrapping up the precious bonus point within 25 minutes of kick-off.

As so often since coach Simon Morrell took over two and a half years ago at Bitton Park, the victory was earned through a dominant pack wearing down their opponents before releasing the ball to quick, hungry backs. Within four minutes centre Chris Tidman was on the end of a relentless forward drive, and then used his considerable strength to burst through to the line from ten metres out.

Full back Nichols got the Wellies on the scoreboard with a superbly struck penalty from near half-way on 7 minutes, but from then on it was almost one way traffic, as the home side rattled up the points on a regular basis.

First hooker Pete Parsons went over after a tried and tested lineout move, allowing Dan Force to convert, and then youngster Henry Raby went on one of his now trademark runs from the base of a ruck; Force again converted.

Nichols slotted another long-range penalty before the quicksilver winger Chris Sherlock ran in the Teigns’ fourth try in Clubhouse Corner. Within two minutes back-row Luke Pattison proved that forwards can also show a fair turn of speed with a carbon copy of Sherlock’s try.

Just before kick-off, Wellington’s skipper Trott had failed a fitness test, but it was his replacement Paddy Dean who finally got a consolation try for the visitors, which Nichols converted.

Although they had conceded five tries to one, the visitors had been tackling like demons in the first half, with the result that try-scorers Tidman and Sherlock, as well as skipper Colin Aldworth, had had to be replaced, although both Aldworth and Sherlock were able to return to the fray in the later stages. This disrupted the Teigns’ fluency, as several players found themselves in unfamiliar positions, but the general pattern of play continued and Wellington never looked likely to get back into the game.

Winger Jake Allison scored the final points of the match as early as the 57th minute with a well taken try in the corner, although the home side had several chances to add to their total as the visitors’ defence began to tire.
Morrell was absolutely delighted with the performance of his side, recognising that Wellington were a well-organised and experienced outfit, and that they were taken apart in the first half. He must, however, be worried about the lengthening injury list, especially in the backs, after Raby suffered what looked a serious knee injury in the last few minutes. All season the coach has been conscious that he has a smaller squad than most to choose from, and he will be hoping that the Christmas break will enable a few muscles, joints and bones to recover.

Before then, however, Teignmouth take the short trip to bottom-of-the-table Paignton this week for the final match of 2013. It is to be hoped that a large number of supporters will be on the train to Torbay for a 2.30 kick-off.