Toolstation Western League
First Division
Chippenham Park 3, Chard Town 4

SATURDAY brought a game full of fast, attacking football at Chippenham Park, with Chard Town coming away with a 4-3 victory.

The Robins were forced to rearrange the starting line-up due to the absence of injured defenders Elliot Dyer and Andy Holmes, and striker James Boyland missing out through illness.

The squad included Under-18s players Brad Loaring and Josh Lukins, both of whom fitted in well as part of a good team performance.

Chard had much the better of the first half, and a good move down the park put Nathan Warren through to score with a well-judged strike after just two minutes.

Warren was then denied a second by a fine reaction save from the home goalkeeper.

The visitors continued with the attacking play and on 20 minutes Matthew Howell was in the right spot to score the second goal.

Chippenham Park then hit back with some dangerous attacks of their own, including an effort cleared off the Chard goal-line on 35 minutes.

But the Robins put further pressure on the home defence and increased their lead minutes before half time, as Max Westlake crossed well from the right for Warren to head the ball home.

The second half started with more attacking play by Chard, and Westlake sent in a shot which crashed against the crossbar.

The hosts, 3-0 down, were not giving up, and pulled one back on 55 minutes, the ball appearing to deflect off a defender into the net.

A second Chippenham goal came soon after, when a cross from the right found the top of the net just inside the far post.

Loaring replaced Ollie Pearson in a defensive role on the hour, but Chard continued to attack the home side, with Warren’s header from a Liam Cleal cross well saved by the keeper.

A further substitution saw Lukins replace Dan Collins, and in the 76th minute young Lukins brought the ball out of defence and played a great through ball for Christian Blango to score a his first goal in Chard colours, making it 4-2.

Chippenham scored a third, a header from a free-kick, with five minutes to go, but Chard survived the nine minutes of stoppage time to collect the three points.

Chard Town: Scott Wells-Burr, Ben Haines, Ollie Pearson (Brad Loaring 60), Ryan Parris, Kieran Bailey (c), Matthew Howell, Max Westlake, Nathan Warren, Dan Collins (Josh Lukins 75), Christian Blango (Stephen Friend 87), Liam Cleal.

The result means Chard stay in third place with 48 points from 22 games, having one game in hand on second-placed Keynsham (53 points), and this Wednesday sees them host Welton Rovers (ko 7.30pm).