A TENSE derby saw North Petherton take away the bragging rights with a hard-fought victory at Wellington, writes Simon Freeman.

Wellington have only lost once at home this season but Petherton bombarded the Welly line in the first-half.

In the seventh minute, quick ball was secured after a break from James Cox, the ball was moved from right to left with three passes and into the hands of Carl Brown who scrambled his way over after bouncing off a tackler to take a 0-5 lead.

From the resulting kick-off, Petherton nearly scored their try of the season as Aaron Gibbs caught the ball and beat the first two men, off-loaded to Sam Williams who found Damian Griffin, who was three yards from the home line when the ball was fumbled.

Petherton showed their character thoughout and extended their lead thanks to James Carter's try following good work from Sam Butler and Dave Hallaran, with Harry Roberts kicking the tricky conversion.

Wellington showed why they have such a good home record and Petherton were unable to add to their score for the rest of the match.

The second half began with a miraculous cover tackle from Damian Griffin to deny the Wellington right-winger a try.

Wellington pressed and were camped in Petherton's 22 for the next 25 minutes before another wave of attacks saw them run over a try.

The home side scored their second try in the 62nd minute 10 yards to the right of the post and this time the kicker hit the post to bring the scores to 10-12 to Petherton.

Mike Coles came to the fore and his strength held up numerous mauls which resulted in Pethy being able to reorganise or relieve the pressure.

Russ Williams left the field with a suspected broken hand but Petherton held on in a nervy finish to win by two points.

Man of the match: Mike Coles.

*NORTH Petherton Seconds' match was cancelled as Ivel Barbarians were unable to raise a side. Petherton were given a walkover bonus point win.