Western Counties (W)

St Austell 33, Chard 5

CHARD’S travel sickness continued as they were comfortably beaten in Cornwall on Saturday.

The visitors trailed 21-0 at half-time before St Austell scored again early in the second half.

Chard then got on the scoreboard but the Saints had the last word late on.

On Saturday, Chard host Tiverton.

Somerset 2 South

Yeovil 2nds 0, Chard 2nds 45

CHARD 2nd XV went to undefeated Yeovil 2nds knowing that they would have to be at their best to come away with anything against a team that have been scoring freely in previous league games.

The visitors applied plenty of pressure in the first half and three Ieuan Watkins established a 9-0 half-time lead.

Come the restart, Chard’s assault continued and Tim Gibbs was the first to cross the line after skipping through the defence to score under the posts; Watkins converted.

Chard then survived a spell of pressure and were quick to move upfield, Martin Drayton gathering Gibbs’ kick for another converted try.

Watkins then scored a brilliant solo try which he calmly converted to increase the lead to 30-0.

Yeovil once again gave away a penalty, allowing Watkins to increase his personal tally with a straightforward kick.

Joel Nichols was next to get his name on the scoresheet, showing that props can have pace by sprinting in to add another five points and the bonus point.

Chard had one more score to come, this time from the dominant scrum pushing Yeovil back towards their own line, and when the ball came out Sam Mouland slipped the defence to score.

Watkins once again added the extras on 80 minutes to bring the game to a close, Chard having thumped the league leaders 45-0 on their own turf.

Chard: Joel Nicholls, Ben Partridge, Brian Sugar (c), Tom Spurway, Zak Stabbins, Ash Wilson, Nick Mouland, Joshua Strickland, Tim Gibbs, Sam Mouland, Dan Potter, David Tucker, Ronan Treble, Marin Drayton, Ieuan Watkins, Jordon Beale, Gavin Smillie.

Somerset Junior Cup
Weston-super-Mare Under-14s 15, Chard Under-14s 33

CHARD played superbly in their first round match of the Somerset Junior Under-14 Cup on Sunday, romping to victory against worthy opponents Weston.

The boys played with fierce determination and Warren Bowditch scored an early try, the first of a hat-trick, cutting through Weston’s defence to put the Chard visitors ahead. 

Ethan Underhill, Chard’s full-back and place-kicker, took the score to 7-0 with a accurately struck conversion.

Weston’s restart led to a second try from Warren, who cut through the defence and ran the ball in underneath the posts. 

Ethan Underhill again slotted the ball cleanly through the goal posts to make the score 14-0 giving Chard a convincing lead, one which would prove to be unshakable.

The third try was a team effort as Chard forced their way down the pitch with phase after phase of hard won ball at the ruck and well worked support and off-loads. 

Jamie Chapman was the scorer of try number three which put Chard 19-0 ahead at half-time.

Weston had clearly been given a team talk and began a more convincing fight back in the second half. They scored their first try, but were unable to convert it. 

Chard restarted and put the Weston defence under intense pressure. Their inability to take the ball clearly led to Warren Bowditch scoring his third try from the chased down restart - Underhill made his third clean conversion look easy. 

Weston’s restart was taken from the air by Kelson Barros who ran the length of the pitch dodging, weaving and stepping around Weston’s defence. It was a masterclass not only in footwork, but in making something out of nothing. 

Ethan Underhill converted Chard’s fifth and final try of the match. The score stood 33-5.

But fair play to Weston, who fought to the end, and the last 15 or so minutes of the match rewarded them with two unconverted tries.

They camped down at Chard’s end of the pitch, but the Chard defence was resilient.

But under such intense attack Weston were able to break the line twice.

This win shows just what the young team is able to achieve by supporting each other.