First double defeat

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).