CHARD Rugby Club came together with their Wyvern counterparts on Saturday to remember Mick Halligan, a stalwart of both clubs.

Following Chard 1st XV’s fine win over Bideford, a Chard 3rds/Vets team played against Wyvern 1st XV in a match in memory of Mick, who sadly passed away last season.

The large crowd included several former players who had played with Mick when he first joined Chard in the late 1960s.

Mick played for Chard until the 1990s and was a former captain. 

He became very involved with the Wyvern Club in Taunton but remained a loyal supporter of Chard and was regularly seen on the touchline supporting them.

Below is a report from Wyvern skipper Jon Parish.

Memorial Match
Chard 10, Wyvern 72

ON Saturday, Wyvern travelled to Chard for the inaugural ‘Mick Halligan Memorial Trophy’. 

Mick started playing for Chard in the 1970s until the mid-80s, enjoying a spell as captain and as a committee member, before then being one of the founder members of the Wyvern RFC in Taunton. 

In front of an audience of family and friends from both clubs, Mick’s old teams battled out a match played in the right spirit of the game from the first whistle. 

A number of ‘old boys’ dusted off their boots for the match, including Wyvern RFC President Martin ‘Howie’ Howe, who was one of a number of players on both sides who remember (just!) playing alongside Mick. 

After a brief period of evenly-matched play among the forwards, the Wyvern backs took control, running in tries from distance. Mark ‘Evs’ Evans greedily picked up three tries in the first half, before then agreeing to share it around. Wyvern were 36-0 up at half-time. 

Chard again started strongly after the break, matching the Wyvern in the scrums and sending their ball carriers into contact. 

With Guy ‘Munch’ Loader and his two sons making it a family affair in the Wyvern back row there was an interesting mix of experience with youthful energy and speed – though one cannot help but wonder what might have been had they agreed to pass the ball to one another when they made a line break.

Before long Evans was back to his old tricks, jinking around defenders and finding his way to the tryline.

Never keen to let the backs get all the glory, Dave ‘Wiggum’ Hughes and Jon ‘Treebeard’ Parish contributed a try each to represent the hardworking forwards. 

In a show of sportsmanship, Sam Goodall and a few others agreed to swap into the Chard team, after which he showed some powerful direct running with ball in hand and played a strong role in setting up the first Chard try of the day. 

Following a second consolation try by Chard, cheered on enthusiastically by the watching crowd, the match finally finished 10-72 with Wyvern victorious.

After the match, Mick’s son Mark paid tribute to his father with an emotional speech before Mrs Halligan presented the Wyvern captain with the memorial trophy. 

*****

WYVERN RFC play in Somerset 3 South and train on Wednesdays from 6.45pm at Wyvern Club, Mountfields Road, Taunton.

Players looking for a friendly club are very welcome to come along or to contact the club via their website.