Wellington made the long trip to St Ives on Saturday in a game they really needed to win to build some momentum into their season.
After five minutes of early pressure Will Hancox stepped up to strike an early penalty to give Wellington the lead.
St Ives struck back almost immediately; a kick to the corner saw their line out, which was slick all match was driven over and fly half Jacob Ninnes added the extras.
Wellington went back on the attack and a beautifully weighted cross kick was gathered by Nev Pitman. The referee pulled him back however, just as he was about to cross the line for being in front of the kicker.
This seemed to unsettle Wellington who had a bizarre five minutes where they simply allowed the Hawkes to run through them twice to score.
At 19 -3 down after 28 minutes they had a mountain to climb, but to their credit they knuckled down at a time when things could have gone badly wrong. Wellington played the better rugby for the remainder of the half and were unfortunate not to score when a driving maul was illegally pulled down as they were about to cross the whitewash, and then another penalty was conceded in the red zone off the next play but no further sanction than a penalty was deemed necessary.
Ten minutes into the second half the Hawkes scored again from a catch and drive, which Ninnes converted to take the score to 26 -3. Matt Parsons moved into nine at this point and Liam Symons moved up to ten from fullback. Wellington started to play with more pace and flair out behind and create opportunities, and pressure. During this period George Hooper was on the end of a long pass and went over in the corner but the pass was adjudged forward.
When Hakes were awarded a scrum five metres out from their own line Lee Wadham came off the bench onto the tight-head side. This had an immediate impact as the Welly eight drove the Hawkes off the ball, enabling Chris Kitto to pick up and dive over.
Wellington were soon back on the attack again and slick hands saw Danny Lee dart over.
With seven minutes left Wellington continued to apply pressure, but it was not until the last play of the match that Nev Pitman was able to squeeze in the corner to make the final score 26 -20.
Match report Mike Brewer