Somerset Under-18s League

Bridgwater & Albion Colts 0, Wellington Colts 42

BRIDGWATER & Albion Colts played their first match in almost eight weeks and just their third since mid-December – and it showed as they were beaten by rivals Wellington.

From the kick-off, Wellington went through a number of phases but good defensive work held them up after extensive pressure on the Bridgwater line.

The resultant five-metre scrum sucked in the defence, the ball went wide for the visitors to score a converted try after just five minutes.

The continuing pressure from Wellington led to a further score after 20 minutes following a strong scrum, they were again held up on the line, and yet again from a resulting tap penalty.

A further scrum saw the ball wide again and a missed Albion tackle allowed and unconverted try.

One turnover deemed illegal gave Bridgy a penalty – touch was missed, and Welly broke for an excellent score.

Wellington’s bonus point try came on 34 minutes following a 20 metre maul illegally pulled down by Bridgwater. The resultant penalty was taken in at the lineout then spread wide for a converted try.

Albion then applied their own pressure just before half time, but were held up and Wellington managed to clear from the resultant scrum.

Half-time arrived with four Albion players replaced as injuries took their toll.

Wellington kicked off the second period and soon had a further three tries.

The end result was a good win for Wellington, and it is to be hoped that Bridgwater's Colts improve significantly before their 5th round National Colts Plate match on Saturday against Banbury at College Way (ko 5pm).

Minehead Under-16s 6, North Petherton 35

NORTH Petherton put in a comprehensive performance in their first game for some time.

Petherton played up the slope in the first half and good play put them in some strong attacking positions.

Petherton were guilty of losing their shape as players began to play individually.

The Petherton forwards held the upper hand even though Minehead battled and tested the visitors defence on numerous occasions.

The second half began with Petherton on the attack and they looked more dangerous with the ball in hand, but sometimes chose to kick.

The forwards made some hard yards and the backs looked sharp when they attacked with a higher tempo.

Plenty to work on bit a solid run-out against a determined side.