With neither side able to achieve promotion or be relegated, the game had a very end-of-season feel as Taunton won the toss and batted first. They got off to a strong start until Arron Campbell (1-42) got the first breakthrough. Taunton kept wickets in hand but were kept in check by Campbell and an economical Jack Beal (0-39), however they were able to start to pull away in the last 10. Openers Luke Desave (1-53) and Toby Stirzaker (2-17) both returned to keep the scores down and get some late wickets.

Wellington lost an early wicket in response but George Ruell (27) and Tom Hazel-Evans (57) got them going. Once Ruell was out, Arron Campbell (53) joined Hazel-Evans for the 5th wicket and whilst at least one of them was in it felt like the game could go down to the wire. However, Wellington steadily lost wickets trying to keep up with the rate and while the lower order all chipped in with 10-15 runs each it was never going to be enough as Wellington fell 28 runs short.

A 5th place finish is a fair reflection of the 1st XI season as they won just one of their first seven games, but followed it up with nine wins from their next 11 matches. The team will be hoping to build on that heading into 2023.

Full scorecard - https://wellccsom.play-cricket.com/website/results/5025318