Western League First Division
Wincanton Town 1, Chard Town 3

CHARD Town kept up their impressive run of results with victory at Wincanton on Boxing Day, writes Mike Froom.

After going a goal down late in the first half they dominated the second period to score three goals and come away with the points.

The game opened with a scoring chance for both sides: Chard came close on five minutes, and an effort for Wincanton two minutes later was well covered by the Robins keeper Jon Hill.

There followed a succession of free-kicks for both sides with the heavy ground conditions down the middle preventing flowing football.

Taoufik Ben-salem did get forward for a chance on 30 minutes and fired a further effort just wide some five minutes later.

However, the home side had the best of the attacking play with the Chard defence under pressure.

Hill kept his goal intact until Wincanton, using the ball well on the break, hit the bar.

The resulting corner fell to a home player who shot home to give his side the lead with four minutes of the half remaining.

Chard came out for the second half with a more positive attitude.

The midfield pushed forward to give the forward players more space, and chances were created to open up the home defence.

James Boyland, using his pace down the right flank, and good work by Max Westlake and Scott Martin put the home defence under constant pressure.

The deserved equaliser came on 75 minutes when, following a handball in the area, the spot-kick was powered home by Westlake.

Then, after a Wincanton free-kick was headed away, Boyland went on another good run and Martin, with some clever footwork, beat the advancing keeper with a well-controlled shot on 78 minutes to put Chard 2-1 up.

At the other end, Hill brought off a brilliant save to deny Wincanton and, with play swiftly going upfield, Boyland's shot skimmed past the far post.

However, he got his just reward on 83 minutes, scoring a fine goal from a Westlake through ball to secure a winning margin.

This was a good team performance to recover from a poor first half and, no doubt, gave manager Paul Down some satisfaction for a credible win against a team he had previously managed for five years.

Chard: Jon Hill, Patrick Golden, Shaun Wells-Burr (David Duarte 88), Andrew Holmes, Kieran Bailey, Jack Dicker (Luke Jackson 86), Max Westlake, Bradley Miles, Taoufik Ben-salem, Scott Martin (Scott Jakeman 84), James Boyland. Sub not used: Ryan Mason.