Toolstation Western League First Division
Keynsham Town 1, Chard Town 3

CHARD Town travelled to Keynsham on Saturday and came away with an excellent result, winning by three goals to one against a side who had won five and only lost once in the league this season.

In the first half on the 3G surface Chard, after a tentative start, soon put together several good attacking moves with James Boyland testing the home goalkeeper with a first time shot towards the top corner of the goal which was well saved.

Keynsham used their wingers to good effect but their efforts could not produce the required finish, with shots wide or well positioned saves by Chard’s ‘keeper Jon Hill, in particular on 35 minutes when he did well to push a first time effort away for a corner. 

Just on the half time whistle Keynsham saw a further shot over the bar before Hill made another save as the two sides went into half-time goalless.

The second half saw Chard take the game to the home side, and the first goal came on 51 minutes when a long ball from Luke Jackson found the ever alert James Boyland, who beat the midfield and scored with an accurate strike. 

Shortly after, a Chard free kick saw Alex Stafie’s shot just wide.

Keynsham pushed forward but their efforts were wide of the target and, with the home defence out of position, a second goal came on 62 minutes with Boyland sending through Stafie to score his first goal in Chard colours. 

Some six minutes later, following a free kick, Max Westlake collected the ball down the middle and scored with a low well directed shot to the right of the ‘keeper for Chard’s third goal.

Brad Miles replaced the injured Boyland on 68 minutes and, with Keynsham putting increased pressure on the Chard defence, a home goal came on 73 minutes when they scored from close range to give them a glimpse to get back into the game. 

However, several further saves by Hill and good covering work by the Chard defence saw out the game on a day when the home side played to their strengths on the familiar 3G pitch.

To their credit, Chard took advantage of defensive errors to come away with the three points after an excellent all-round team performance to take them up to 15th in the table.

Chard: Jonathan Hill, Ben Haines, Oliver Pearson, Andrew Holmes, Kieran Bailey, Matthew Howell, Max Westlake, Luke Jackson, Alexandru Stafie (David Duarte), Liam Cleal, James Boyland (Bradley Miles).