A SECOND successive victory has seen Chard move up the Premier Two table in the West of England Cricket League.

Only a few weeks ago Chard were at the bottom of the table and things were not looking good for Jon Dalwood’s team.

But now, two straight victories in the bag, and Chard have moved out of the bottom two and hoping to push up into the safety zone.

Dalwood will know that a lot of work is still to be done to ensure Premier Two safety, but he will be encouraged by their two successes — a five-wicket victory over Westbury and District on June 23 and a 146-run win against Chippenham last weekend.

Admittedly, both Westbury and Chippenham are in the wrong end of the table alongside Chard, but Dalwood knows that it is those games which his side must win if they are to stay in Premier Two.

Chard travel to Weston-super-Mare this coming Saturday hoping to make it three wins on the bounce.

Weston are just above Chard in the table and so they will go to the seaside in confident mood.

Chard’s recent upturn in fortunes has coincided with the return to the club of the experienced Emlyn Kuhn. He left Chard at the end of last season, but has now featured in their last two winning matches.

Ilminster, meanwhile, have suffered some disappointing results in Premier One and are now third from bottom in the table.

Runs have been hard to gain for Sam Spurway’s side and they fell to a seven-wicket defeat against Bath on Saturday having been dismissed for just 142.

While opener Louis Kraucamp and Spurway himself have been making decent contributions with the bat, the middle order has been disappointingly lacking in the run department and the skipper will know only too well that they are going to have to improve to be able to compete at the top level.

Ilminster will, however, be hoping to get a much-needed win when they play host to Frocester on Saturday, who currently stand just one place above them in the table.