Toolstation Western League
First Division
Chard Town 2, Calne Town 1

CHARD Town got back to winning ways with a fine second-half performance at Zembard Lane on Saturday.

The first half, though, proved frustrating for the Robins against visiting Calne Town.

Within a minute of the kick-off, Chard had spurned two good chances, with skipper Taoufik Ben Salem not quite connecting with James Boyland's cross and Liam Cleal firing straight at the Calne keeper.

The visitors then went ahead after 11 minutes after putting the Robins' defence under a little bit of pressure.

The ball fell to Will Thomson and his fairly innocuous shot from just outside the penalty area crept into the net, just beyond Jon Hill's reach.

While Boyland was busy on the flank and Kieran Bailey had an excellent chance, only to head wide, the Robins could not get any sort of positive rhythm into their game, and both Charlie Austin and Stuart Windsor came very close to extending the visitors' lead.

After the interval the hosts looked a different side, and were duly rewarded on 52 minutes when Ben Salem slammed the ball home after the keeper had punched away Cleal's free-kick.

Then, just five minutes later, the home side went in front.

A long ball was nodded on by Ben Salem into the path of Boyland, who calmly drew the keeper and neatly slipped the ball past him into the net.

Apart from a brief spell of pressure when the visitors had three successive corners, Chard continued to control the game with some constructive football.

They could have extended the victory by a wider margin if Ben Salem's cunning lob had been very slightly more accurate, and if Scott Jakeman had been more fortunate with his shot which hit the post in the dying minutes.

Chard Town: Jon Hill, Pat Golden, Ollie Pearson, Andrew Holmes (Ben Haines 61), Kieran Bailey, Jack Dicker (Dave Durate 76), Max Westlake, Matt Howell, Taoufik Ben Salem, James Boyland, Liam Cleal (Scott Jakeman 85).

Tenth-placed Chard's next outing is on Tuesday (ko 7.30pm), away to Welton Rovers, who are sixth.