TORPOINT Athletic continued their undefeated start to the season to 13 games with a 3-0 success at Wellington on Saturday.

The result means they continue to put pressure on Clevedon Town at the summit of the league table as the Seasiders were beaten 1-0 by Buckland Athletic, a result which moved the Cornishmen to within three points with two games in-hand.

Torpoint had drawn 1-1 at St Blazey in midweek and there were three changes to the starting 11 as Owen Haslam, Fred Chapman and Gary Hird came in for the unavailable Laurence Murray, dual-registered Max Gilbert and Darren Hicks.

Tom Payne returned to the squad and came off the bench with Matt Cotter and Aidan Northcott called up from the reserves.

The visitors started the brighter of the two teams, enjoying good possession and creating some good half chances.

Just past the quarter-hour mark a pinpoint cross found Torpoint’s Joe Rapson in the area, but his effort was saved by Jack McAndrews.

Moments later Curtis Damerell ran down the right, releasing Rapson to cut into the box, but his shot rattled the crossbar.

Midway through the first half, home striker Oscar Albano’s 20-yard drive was put around the post by Ryan Rickard.

Just past the half-hour mark, the visitors took the lead when Freddie Chapman crossed the ball into the area to find Rapson. His shot took a slight deflection off Nathan Byrne to land into an empty net.

Chances were at a premium either side of the break, but just before the hour mark the hosts were reduced to ten men when Jacob Shore was shown a straight red card for a reckless challenge on Rapson.

Torpoint took full advantage of their extra man advantage when they doubled their lead in the 73rd minute. An Elliott Crawford corner found Payne in the area and he flicked the ball home. Wellington appealed for handball, but the referee waved away their appeals and in the process Josh Barker was sin-binned for comments to the official.

With 12 minutes remaining the visitors extended their lead when good build-up play down the right found Dave Barker who fired home a low angled drive past the keeper to complete the scoring to the delight of the 20 away supporters.

Reflecting on the game, Torpoint joint boss Dean Cardew said: “I was extremely pleased with our performance yesterday. It was a complete 90-minute display – something that’s not always easy to come by – and the perfect way to build on the solid point we earned at St Blazey on Wednesday.

“From the first whistle to the last, I felt we controlled the game. While there was an element of fortune to our second goal, the victory was thoroughly deserved.

“It’s a welcome break now with no midweek fixture after what has been a demanding run of games. This gives us a valuable opportunity to rest, recover, and fully prepare for another tough away test at Nailsea and Tickenham on Saturday.”

TORPOINT ATHLETIC: Ryan Rickard; Dave Barker, Sam Hepworth, Owen Haslam (Matthew Cotter, 85), Callum O’Brien, Elliott Crawford (capt), Gary Hird (Sam Morgan, 83), Fred Chapman (Tom Payne, 45), Curtis Damerell (Kieran Edworthy, 79), Joe Rapson, Sam Pearson (Aidan Northcott, 85).

Torpoint Athletic man-of-the-match: Joe Rapson.