South West 1 West
Matson 19, Chard 0

CHARD 1sts travelled to Gloucester on Saturday to play Matson, but after winning the toss surprisingly chose to take advantage of the slope and elements in the first half, writes Glyn Hughes.

Having made this decision it was imperative to build up a good lead by the break because the home side would certainly know how to make the most of their home slope in the second half.

Chard created several good opportunities but their play in the first half was generally below standard – particularly in the line-out.

The scrum, however, was in decent shape, with Liam Mustchin – in only his second full game – having a particularly promising match.

Chard had several chances to get on the scoreboard in the first half but were unable to take advantage of those situations, and it was 0-0 at the break.

In the second half Chard were pinned back by some good territorial play by Matson and although their own performance was an improvement on the first half they could not stop the hosts from building a 19-point advantage.

Jason Wright and Darren Goetz tackled well throughout, but although the scrum was solid this was an off-day for the visitors.

This coming Saturday Chard host Bridgwater & Albion (ko 2pm).

The earlier kick-off time is to allow spectators to watch the England v Scotland Six Nations match on the big screen in the clubhouse afterwards.

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CHARD 2nds’ league game against Yeovil was postponed on Friday night as the main pitch was waterlogged.

Next weekend the 2nd XV are away to Bridgwater 3rds (ko 2pm).

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Somerset 3 South
Weston-super-Mare 4th XV 20, Chard 3rd XV 0

IN a somewhat scrappy game Chard put up a valiant performance against the runaway league leaders, which made up in part for the drubbing they received at home earlier in the season.

Chard did not start well and Weston ran over for their first try in the opening minutes.

But the visitors responded positively, and put the home side under pressure – but unfortunately unforced handling errors ruined their chances of getting on the scoreboard.

After surviving the pressure from Chard, Weston booted the ball downfield and won the chase for the touchdown to score their second try.

Both sides were struggling to play decent rugby but just before the break Weston scored again to lead 15-0 at the break.

The second half was strewn with errors from both sides but it was a competitive contest, and Mark Cornelius and man of the match Ian Mackenzie both had good games.

Weston completed the scoring with their fourth try late in the game, but for once they did not have everything their own way.

Next Saturday Chard 3rds are at home to Wincanton (ko 2pm).

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Somerset Colts League
Chard 33, Frampton Cotterell 10

THE Colts’ recent good form continued as they won this game fairly comfortably, even though the visitors were very competitive throughout.

Frampton started the game strongly but Chard soon raised their game and built up a 19-point lead with three tries coming from Joe Mainwaring, Alex Hill and Emile Szydelko.

Fly-half Barnaby Down added two conversions and Chard were in a very strong position.

Just before the interval Frampton got a well-worked try, which was converted and added to by a penalty goal.

At half time Chard were ahead 19-10.

Chard dominated the second half, with the forwards clearly benefitting from a skills session they had received in the week from Steve Broome.

Two more tries from Hill and Szydelko again, and two more successful conversions from Down, put Chard well ahead.

The Chard back row of Luke Carslake, Dean Richards and Harry Cleal all played a major part in this dominant win.

Next week the Colts are away to Minehead.