CHARD are still looking for their first victory in National League 3 (SW) after losing 32-0 at Oxford on Saturday, writes Glyn Hughes.

Chard’s already wafer-thin squad was trimmed to the bone when they travelled with only 16 players after the withdrawal of four more players through injury.

Despite this handicap it has to be said that the final scoreline does not reflect the effort and commitment of the Chard team who gave everything for the cause and indeed had much of the play, especially in the second half.

The big difference was that Oxford were clinical in their finishing when they had an opportunity and Chard fluffed their lines when they were in scoring positions and lacked that final cutting edge.

Chard went behind in the opening minutes when home full-back Jack Robinson successfully kicked a penalty.

Immediately from the restart Chard had a good spell and knew they should have taken the lead. But with a clear two-on-one situation and a score looking certain they somehow contrived to mess it up.

Shortly afterwards a straight-forward penalty kick from Neil Douglas hit the upright and bounced clear.

The Chard pack – with a young front row of Dave Biss, Ben Robinson and Luke Aplin – were playing really good stuff and often had the hosts in a lot of trouble. And it was no surprise when Oxford lost a player to the sin bin for illegally stopping a Chard drive forward.

However after 20 minutes Oxford increased their lead. Having survived an onslaught from Chard, they broke clear and Robinson went over for a try which he also converted.

This would in many ways sum up a frustrating afternoon for the Chard side.

In the latter stages of the half unconverted tries from wing Ethan Carlisle and No8 Seisoni Toupou gave Oxford a comfortable 20-0 advantage at the break.

Alan Purchase and Jack Avery added further tries in the second half for the home side but how Chard failed to get on the score board was a real mystery as they certainly gave as good as they got throughout the second half.

Gabe Riley and Ryan Helliar in the back row, Ben Johnson at scrum half and Ben Stead on the wing typified the Chard play with a lot of excellent work but they were beaten by a team which took their chances.

Chard certainly need to increase their pool of players, not just for the 1st XV but for all three of their senior sides as the small and depleted 1st team squad is having a real knock on effect on the 2nd and 3rd XVs. Players of all abilities would be very welcome at the club.

Chard 2nds lost 43-14 at home to Cheddar on Saturday whiel the 3rds had to call off their game at Wells because of the current lack of players available.

It is absolutely imperative that the club do every thing possible to get the 3rd xv up and running as it does not take long for the lack of a 3rd xv to effect the team above and travelling with a depleted side and borrowing players from the opposition has to be a better option then cancelling games.

Chard: B Harrison, B May, L Massey, J Massey, B Stead, N Douglas, B Johnson, D Biss, B Robinson, L Aplin, A Henley, M Gosden, M Parsons (capt) R Helliar, G Riley. Replacement B Biss.

This Saturday Chard 1sts are at home to fancied Reading side Redingensians and will be keen to get as much support as possible as they try to secure their first win at National level. Kick off is at 3pm.

Chard 2nds are away against Chew Valley 2nds in Somerset One while Chard 3rds are scheduled to entertain Castle Cary 2nds.