WELTON ROVERS 0 CHEDDAR 3
The League leaders consolidated their top position with a dominating performance at West Clewes that saw them finish the game with their eighth clean sheet in a row and giving Welton little chance to impress.
On a cold, blustery afternoon at West Clewes, the visitors set out their store straight from the kick-off, when a long-range effort from Captain, Craig Mawford, flew past the Welton post, and minutes later, Adam Wright saw his shot fly over the Welton bar.
Welton responded, and good work in the Cheddar area from Omar Simpson saw his shot blocked. Welton continued to probe, and Aaron Seviour set up Chris Pile, but he fired wide of the target. The Cheesemen took the lead in the eighteenth minute, when a well-placed cross from George Booth landed in the area between Tom Drewitt and Will Hunter, and with the hesitation between them, Wright nipped in and scooped the ball into the Welton net.
A long-range shot from Welton fullback, Aaron Cockerill, went wide, and at the other end, the dangerous Wright broke through the Welton defence, only to be denied a second goal by brave keeping from Drewitt. Then, minutes later, Drewitt produced a great save to deny Adam Jones as the visitors dominated proceedings.
Just before half-time, the visitors got their second. Wright tore through the Welton defence, and as Drewitt rushed out to close him down, he calmly lobbed the ball over the keeper and saw it float into the net for his second goal of the game.
The second half had barely started when Drewitt was called into action to save from Chris Coombs and Jones. Wright then met a cross from the right and his bullet-header clipped the top of the Welton bar. Welton did persevere to put some kind of pressure on the Cheesemen, but all too often the final ball was not good enough and easily dealt with by the strong Cheddar defence.
In the sixtieth minute, Welton brought on Connor Ford and Lewis Coleman for Seviour and Lewis Dixon to liven things up. Good play by Simpson saw him dribble past two defenders and find Coleman in space, but his snap-shot went wide. Welton then suffered a setback when midfielder, Richard Hurd, had to be replaced by Sam Stoppard after crashing against the Cheddar upright and injuring his knee.
Despite all the changes, Welton had little impact on the visitors, who, in the 85th minute, put the game to bed with a superb third goal. Again, good play down the right from Jones saw him deliver a pin-point cross that was met by Wright, and his brilliant diving header flew into the Welton net to secure his well-deserved hat-trick, and the three points for the impressive Cheesemen of Cheddar.
This Saturday, 19th January, Welton entertain Wells City at West Clewes; kick-off 3 p.m.
Bob Allard