South-Eastern District One: Chard A - 5, ECV Hornets D - 0

There was a hat-trick from Nick Southall and further goals from fellow front man Trevor Goss and Brogan O’Shea-Smith.

The opening minutes belonged to Chard but they lacked the ruthless instinct to take advantage of the visitors’ sluggish start.

Once Hornets got their act together, they began to put pressure on Chard’s 16 yard hit outs and the defence and midfield had to work hard throughout to work the ball clear.

A penalty flick from Goss was followed quickly by the first of Southall’s goals which took the sting out of Hornets.

And when Alex Antunes supplied a pin-point cross at the end of a sweeping move for Southall to score again, Chard were cruising to the half-time whistle.

They should have been even further ahead, Justin Green firing wide with a couple of efforts and others failing to make the best of a number of chances.

The second half provided an interesting contrast to the first. Before the break, Hornets had relied heavily upon long clearances to their front two who were well marshalled by Alan Cheffey and Dave Lury, aided by an impressive performance by Harvey Lupton.

Now the visitors went for a pressing game in search of a way onto the score sheet. Chard defended in depth and looked for swift passes to Southall and Goss to catch Hornets on the break.

The crucial fourth goal struck home from a penalty corner by O’Shea-Smith ensured there would be no ECV comeback and Chard were once again able to dictate the pace of the game.

As the chances kept coming, they hit the post and the only crossbar denied Goss his second after he deftly deflected the ball over the keeper.

Southall had the ball in the net again only for the goal to be ruled out but he got a deserved third with the last move of the game latching onto another cross from another right wing raid.

Match sponsor: Taylor Design and Print.