FOOTBALL: Chard Town 3, Hengrove Athletic 3 (From Chard & Ilminster News)

FOOTBALL: Chard Town 3, Hengrove Athletic 3

6:30pm Tuesday 9th February 2010

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ANY neutral at Zembard Lane on Saturday would have gone home exhilarated following an exciting finale in Chard Town’s Toolstation Western League Division One clash with Hengrove Athletic.

The struggling Robins looked to be dead and buried and heading for their 12th league defeat of the season with little more than 15 minutes to go and Hengrove leading 2-0.

The visitors, a top ten side, broke the deadlock shortly after the start of the second period through a Ricky Charlton penalty and they doubled their advantage in the 73rd minute when Danny Guibarra ran through to score.

But Chard, who are developing a real fighting spirit, were not beaten just yet.

Chard reduced the deficit to 2-1 in the 80th minute when a through-ball from Darren Brown was met by James Boyland who netted via a deflection off a Hengrove defender.

Amazingly Chard made it 2-2 five minutes later when the Robins were awarded a penalty after Darren Stewart was adjudged to have been fouled inside the box and Jonny Hurford made no mistake from the spot.

With time ticking down it looked as if the score would remain at 2-2 but both sides still had other ideas.

Hengrove piled forward and Sam Williams gave the visitors the lead once again and then deep into time added-on Darren Brown prodded home to pull Chard level once again from close range after Tim Legg’s long range free-kick had rebounded off the post.

With Chard not having much to shout about in recent years, this was one of those games that will be talked about for many a year at Zembard Lane.

Although Chard got just a share of the spoils from this thrilling match, they will be treating it like a victory having comeback from 2-0 down and then 3-2 down to gain a point.

Chard manager Ian Burns will be hoping that his players can take extra confidence from their performance against Hengrove for the remainder of the season.

Struggling Robins are still just two points off the bottom of the table, but Burns has been confident that with an extra bit of Lady Luck they can increase their “games won” tally which is currently stuck on a hugely disappointing two.

The Robins are tonight (Tuesday) set to be tested to the full, however, with a trip to Bath for a re-arranged clash with title contenders Odd Down who are second in the table and five points adrift of leaders Wells City.

Chard find themselves on the road again on Saturday and a trip to Roman Glass St George who are just two places above them in the table.

And then Chard face a massive game when they are back at Zembard Lane next Tuesday (Feb 16) for the visit of Shepton Mallet – who are just one place above them.

The games with Roman Glass and Shepton Mallet are vital for the Robins.

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