West Clubs Women’s League
Sedgemoor Division 2
Chard 25, Weston-super-Mare 3rds 0

UNDEFEATED league leaders Chard ladies were certainly expected to beat basement side Weston-super-Mare 3rds on Saturday.

What no-one could have expected was that they’d do so by a massive 25-goal margin, led by Charlotte Mooney’s haul of 10.

They broke the deadlock within five minutes, as Tessa Down struck from the top of the D.

That was the starting pistol for Mooney, who weaved her way round defenders with ease and quickly helped herself to four goals.

Weston were unable to get out of their own half and could not prevent the roof caving in on them, as Lou Wrightson found the bottom corner, and Mooney grabbed two more goals after fine work from the midfield.

Lyndsay Blackshaw added another, Mooney got her seventh and Chard’s 10th, before youngster Kerryn Mullis joined the feeding frenzy with a strike of her own.

Lorraine Szczepanski added two more, and Abbi Wheaton made it 14-0 at half time.

There was no complacency after the restart either, with Wheaton bagging her second, as did Down, before Mooney got yet another.

EJ Hines was next to find the net, before further strikes from the rampant Down, Mullis and Mooney.

Blackshaw brought up 22-0, Mooney bagged her 10th before swapping with Hines, who scored again, and the rout was complete when Sasha Taylor scored.

The result leaves Chard nine points clear at the top of Sedgemoor Division 2, and well on course for promotion.

This coming Saturday should bring a tougher test for them, as they travel to face fourth-placed White Eagles 3rds (12.30pm start).

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GoCrea8 Men’s League
Southern 1
University of Exeter E 6, Chard 1

CHARD men’s 1st XI remain three points adrift of safety in Southern 1 after a heavy defeat away to fifth-placed University of Exeter 6ths on Saturday.

They have another tough match this Saturday, at home to third-placed Isca B (2pm), before what looks like a must-win game at bottom side Penzance on February 10.

South East 2
Chard A 1, West Dorset A 0

THIS was not the bounce-back performance Chard were looking for after last week’s defeat.

Instead, it was a victory ground out against a West Dorset side whose defence is always difficult to break down, with Chard far from playing at their best.

The first half was characterised by the home side frequently ignoring the quick, short pass, players instead dwelling too long on the ball and putting themselves under additional pressure as they gave the visitors time to put in a tackle.

There was also lethargy and hesitation about some of Chard’s play, which persisted after the interval.

The only goal of the game came from one of the rare occasions in the first half when the hosts moved the ball quickly.

After absorbing some minutes of West Dorset pressure, Chard counter-attacked courtesy of a run from Chris Knight, who released Kyle Wheaton for a run down the left and in to the visitors’ D.

His cross presented a chance on a plate for Seb Horne and he swept the ball into the net.

Chard’s defence kept their opponents’ sight of goal to a minimum but there were spells either side of half time when lack of composure and hesitancy put the home side under pressure.

The visitors had more penalty corners than Chard and, ultimately, the fact that the hosts took all the points was down to Arthur Critchley’s excellent goal-line clearance following one such corner, after Richard Green had made an initial save.

Chard’s attacking efforts carried more threat in the second half and Horne, Kyle and Gary Wheaton and Gareth Eggle all had chances, but their shots were just off target.

West Dorset’s keeper also pulled off an instinctive save from a close-range shot, sticking out a foot to deflect away what had looked like a sure-fire second goal.

Chard squad: R Green, C Knight, A Critchley, P Tratt, S Mahoney, S Horne, J Goddard (capt), J Spurdle, J Green, T Goss, K Wheaton, G Wheaton, G Eggle, T Eames. Thanks to umpires Andy Swain and Alan Cheffey.

Chard A are a point ahead of East Devon C at the top of the table, and this coming Saturday they go to seventh-placed Sidmouth & Ottery B (2pm).

Chard B, who also play in Southern 1, were without a game last weekend, but this Saturday they make the short trip to play Bridgwater C (12.15pm).

Bridgwater sit fifth in the table and Chard are sixth.