Wellington AFC

Toolstation League Division 1: Wellington 5, Elmore 1.

WELLINGTON made it 22 goals in three games as they cruised to victory over Elmore before a bumper Good Friday crowd at the Playing Field.

Leigh Robinson’s side were simply untouchable in the first half, scoring five times to kill the game as a contest and continue their charge for the division one title. And if it was a case of “after the Lord Mayor’s Show” as conditions deteriorated from the interval, another three-point haul was never in question.

Ironically, Elmore’s Demola Johnson lifted the ball over the bar from a good position in the first minute but after that it was one-way traffic as rampant Wellington scored virtually at will.

They took the lead in the fourth minute when skipper Simon Ingram floated a free-kick into the area and central defender Daniel Short ran in unchallenged to head past keeper Mike Taylor.

Ten minutes later it was 2-0 thanks to the persistence of Craig Herrod, whose determined run finished with a low cross which was cleverly turned home by Alex Pounde.

If the previous weekend’s result is allowed to stand – their 5-1 success over Almondsbury was abandoned after 85 minutes – it was Wellington’s 100th goal of a remarkable season.

They suffered a blow in the 20th minute when they lost right-back Craig Mawford with a hamstring injury but they refused to let this knock them out of their stride and increased their lead midway through the half.

Herrod was sent crashing to the ground as he run on to a through ball from Ingram, who stepped up to calmly dispatch the resulting penalty.

Two minutes later, Wellington were awarded a free-kick just outside the area for a foul on Nick Woon and dead ball specialist Ingram scored with a low curling effort for his 29th goal of the season.

Ingram is being hotly pursued in the scoring charts by Woon who took his tally to 27 for the campaign when he headed home an Ingram free kick just before half-time.

To their credit, Elmore came out with their tails up after the break and Chris Bedford saw a long-range chip bounce on the top of the bar before they pulled a goal back from a Brett Worbey penalty, awarded for a challenge by Short on Kevin Mills.

Wellington had Ryan Lewis in goal for his first game since fracturing his skull earlier in the season and the keeper pulled off a couple of smart saves to keep the score at 5-1.

As the win and rain lashed into Wellington’s faces, they were happy to contain the game for yet another home win.

Wellington: Ryan Lewis, Craig Mawford, Daniel Short, Scott Holland, Jack Adams, Jon Crowford, Danny Cockram, Simon Ingram, Craig Herrod, Nick Woon, Alex Pounde. Subs: Andy Butler, Mark Branton, Graham Burne (all used).

WELLINGTON AFC are working flat-out to bring their facilities up to premier division standard.

The club held a meeting with officials from the FA and Taunton Deane Council today(Wednesday) to discuss their plans.

“It was an extremely positive meeting,” said chairman Ken Bird.

“We know we are facing a race against time but we are pulling out all the stops to ensure everything is in place by the Toolstation League’s AGM on June 10.”

Wellington must carry out a range of improvements of their council-owned Playing Field ground, including a 100-seater grandstand, a demountable fence to enclose the pitch and hard-standing behind the top and bottom goals.

Mr Bird added: “We have applied for planning permission and are also seeking Football Foundation funding to enable the work to go ahead – obviously with permission from the Deane council as the ground’s owner.”

WELLINGTON will have to wait to discover if they will collect three points from their game against bottom club Almondsbury on Saturday.

The match was abandoned after 85 minutes in appalling weather and Toolstation League officials will now meet to decide whether the result should stand.

Striker Nick Woon scored three more goals to add to the four he got in the previous Wednesday’s 12-1 win over Shepton Mallet.

Jon Crowford gave Wellington the lead but Guilaume Mauries levelled for Almondsbury.

Woon restored Wellington’s lead before the break and skipper Simon Ingram made it 3-1 early in the second half. Woon got his second on the hour mark and completed his hat-trick with the last kick of the game.

On Good Friday, Wellington are home to Elmore (3.00) but they are without a game on Saturday and Easter Monday.

WELLINGTON recorded their biggest-ever win in the Toolstation Western League as they trounced Shepton Mallet 12-1 at the Playing Field last night (Wednesday).

Mid-table Shepton were no match for a rampant Wellington side, who scored at will.

Leigh Robinson’s side produced some scintillating football and, if the game had been a boxing match, the referee would have stopped it at half-time.
The stunning result meant Wellington leapt over Larkall, who lost at home to Shrewton, into second place and it also did wonders for their goal difference.

The writing was on the wall for Shepton from the kick-off with Alex Pounde giving Wellington the lead after only three minutes.

Wellington launched attack after attack on the visitors’ goal and scored some cracking goals while also being aided by some atrocious defending.

The home side were 8-0 up at half-time and the only surprise was that Shepton pulled a goal back through Ben Lacey shortly after half-time.

That was only a consolation for the visitors, however, as Wellington ran in four more goals before the final whistle blew to Shepton’s relief.

Scorers of the Wellington dozen were: Nick Woon (four), Craig Herrod (two), Simon Ingram (two) Dan Short, Jon Crowford, Pounde and Scott Holland.

This Saturday, Wellington will be looking for another victory when they entertain struggling Almondsbury at the Playing Field, kick-off 3pm.

Toolstation League first division: Larkhall Athletic 2, Wellington 0

TWO goals in two second-half minutes saw in-form Larkhall become the first side this season to complete the double over Wellington last Saturday.

Playing down their sloping pitch on the outskirts of Bath, Larkhall gave Wellington a torrid time early on and almost went ahead after eight minutes as a shot from Jamie Mines came back off the post.

Ben Horan should have given Larkhall the lead after 34 minutes when he found himself clear but lobbed weakly at keeper Stuart Wood.

And, at the other end, Craig Mawford played in Shane Kingston, whose first shot hit the legs of keeper Ashton Tucker and second the side-netting.

Wellington thought they had broken the deadlock six minutes after the restart.

Alex Pounde found skipper Simon Ingram bursting into the penalty area and, when his shot was saved by Tucker, Kingston joyfully dispatched the rebound … only for their celebrations to be cut short as the “goal” was disallowed for offside.

Larkhall threw on substitute Jack Moon and he gave his side the lead within a minute, racing on to a through ball to shot low past Wood.

Almost immediately, the home side doubled their lead as James Moon – brother of their first scorer – floated over a free kick and veteran central defender Lee Burns rose virtually unchallenged to score with a fine header.

Wellington received a lifeline six minutes later as an ugly incident on the edge of their area led to Jack Moon receiving his second yellow card, reducing Larkhall to ten men for the final 20 minutes.

But, despite having everything thrown at them, Larkhall defended valiantly and the closest Wellington came to reducing the arrears was a trademark Ingram free kick, which was brilliantly pushed over by Tucker.

Wellington: Stuart Wood, Craig Mawford, Daniel Short, Scott Holland, Mark Branton, Jon Crowford, Simon Ingram, Danny Cockram, Jack Adams, Alex Pounde, Shane Kingston. Subs: Nick Woon, Dan Boere, Craig Herrod (all used).

Toolstation League division one: Shrewton United 3, Wellington 3

WELLINGTON had to settle for a point earned from a late fightback in a pulsating game in Wiltshire on Saturday.

And they will have been disappointed that their championship charge suffered a hiccup against a side forced to play most of the second half with ten men.

Shrewton had been hammered 5-0 by Wellington’s title rivals Sherborne the previous week and the visitors dominated the opening exchanges only to be let down repeatedly by a poor final pass.

Shrewton took the lead against the run of play after 43 minutes. The ball was played forward to Shaun Collins, who brought it under control before sending a 25-yard shot sailing over keeper Stuart Wood.

Wellington boss Leigh Robinson re-shaped his side at half-time, bringing on Danny Cockram up front, and they equalised ten minutes after the restart when Craig Herrod was clipped in the box and skipper Simon Ingram scored his 23rd goal of the season from the penalty spot.

Shrewton’s Anton Brownless was red-carded for his reaction to the penalty but his departure seemed to spur on his team-mates and within ten minutes they were 3-1 up.

First, striker Jesse Walters was sent racing clear to net and then Wood produced a comic-book howler as he made a complete hash of dealing with a back-pass and left Craig Lewis with a simple tap-in.

Wellington launched attack after attack on the home goal to get back into the game but Shrewton keeper Charles Aldridge took centre stage with a remarkable series of saves.

The visitors did pull a goal back nine minutes from time as Ingram found Jon Crowford out wide on the right and his teasing ball in saw substitute Nick Woon score with a glancing header.

Five minutes later, Aldridge produced the best of his saves to keep out a trademark Ingram free kick and it looked like Wellington would be making the long journey back empty handed.

But two minutes into injury time, they scored the equaliser they deserved as Shane Kingston laid the ball back to Alex Pounde, who drove low into the net.

By now, ten-man Shrewton were reeling and Wellington almost snatched a remarkable victory with virtually the last kick of the match when Andy Butler’s drive struck a defender on the line and was cleared.

Wellington: Stuart Wood, Craig Mawford, Daniel Short, Scott Holland, Mark Branton, Jon Crowford, Simon Ingram, Andy Butler, Craig Herrod, Alex Pounde, Shane Kingston. Substitutes, Danny Cockram, Nick Woon and Jack Adams (all used).

WELLINGTON warmed up for Saturday’s trip to Shrewton with a crushing 9-1 victory over Somerset County League side Bishops Lydeard at the Playing Field on Tuesday night.

Andy Clarke gave Lydeard an early lead but Wellington immediately took control and ran out comfortable winners with goals from Simon Ingram (two, one penalty), Jon Crowford (two), Shane Kingston (two), Alex Pounde, Craig Herrod and Daniel Short.

WELLINGTON have arranged a friendly at the Playing Field tonight (Tuesday).

They will be taking on Somerset County League side Bishops Lydeard in a match kicking off at 7.45pm.

Wellington were without a game again last Saturday but return to action this weekend when they travel to play Shrewton United.

THE long-awaited clash between the two favourites for promotion to the Toolstation League’s premier division ended in a 0-0 stalemate before the biggest crowd of the season at the Playing Field on Saturday.

As a spectacle, the game failed to live up to expectations with few chances created as the two sides cancelled each other out in virtually every department.

Sherborne started brightly but Wellington got into their stride and Alex Pounde, who always looked lively up front, twice went close with shots after jinking runs.

But it was the visitors who had the best chance of the first half after 42 minutes as Wellington failed to cut out a through ball and Andy Martin raced clear only to blast his shot wide.

The home start began the second half confidently and almost broke the deadlock twice within a few minutes.

First, Nick Woon played in Pounde, who took the ball wide of keeper James Smith but saw his angled shot clip the post.

Then Woon was the provider again, this time setting up Craig Herrod, whose shot was saved by the legs of Smith.
After that, the game fizzled out as both sides nervously struggled to play with any cohesion.

Sherborne almost snatched an 71st minute winner as a free kick was nodded down to Steve MacDaid but he fired wide of the target.

Wellington: Stuart Wood, Craig Mawford, Scott Holland, Dan Short, Mark Branton, Jon Crowford, Simon Ingram, Andy Butler, Craig Herrod, Nick Woon, Alex Pounde. Subs: Shane Kingston and Jack Adams (both used), Alex Rudd (not used).

WHILE Wellington mount a promotion charge, club officials are working hard to ensure the Playing Field is up to scratch for premier division football.

Chairman Ken Bird said: “We have met with the Toolstation League and been made aware of the various work required to bring the ground to premier standard.

“Among the requirements are a covered seating area for 100 people with a further covered standing area for 150.
“We also need to look at perimeter fencing and possibly upgrading our floodlights.

“We are applying to the Football Foundation and other bodies for help towards the funding and also applying for the necessary planning permission.”

“There is a lot of work to do in a short amount of time but we are working hard to ensure everything happens.

“The next step is to meet with the league again to ensure we are moving in the right direction,” he added.