Women's NC South West 1

Minehead Ladies 69, Chard Ladies 0

CHARD Ladies travelled to Minehead with some confidence following their good performance the previous week against Totnes.

Although missing a few key players, Chard began brightly as new fly-half Megan Armstrong attempted to bring the backs in to play early on.

However, as early as the 10th minute the strength of the Minehead team started to show itself.

Chard were penalised numerous times which put them on the back foot, following repeated tap penalties the first breakthrough came with the home number eight charging through to score near the posts, which was converted.

Unfortunately, this opened the floodgates as Minehead dominated the half, with tries coming every few minutes as the Chard defence was overwhelmed.

Five more tries were scored through the Minehead backs in a 15-minute period, before the Minehead number eight scored the final try just before half time , all but one being converted to take the score to 47-0 in favour of the home side.

The second half could have been an embarrassment for the visitors, but this was not to be, as Chard fought tenaciously.

After encouragement from coach Dean Lewis, tackles were made and possession gained. An excellent marauding game at flanker by player of the match Ella Pantling set the example, backed up by hard hitting tackling by Kerry Harris and centre Zoe Winlow.

In the forwards, Sarah Jones, Elaine Stainer and Natalia-Mia Roach stood out, not just with hard tackling but with strong forward runs.

The pack as a whole remained strong in the set piece, pushing Minehead back in the scrum and disrupting the home lineout.

Playing up the hill and against the wind, Chard remained stubborn in defence but Minehead gradually regained dominance as they moved their attacks to the wings and began to outflank the away cover.

Two further tries came before Chard had their best period of the game.

At the beginning of the final quarter, Chard Ladies finally were able to complete numerous phases to encamp themselves in the Minehead 22.

Drives by Winlow, Roach and Adams, resulted in desperate tactics by the home side conceding 4 penaties under the posts. On the final drive, Zoe Winlow scrambled over the line only to be denied for a double movement.

The last 15 minutes saw Minehead score a couple more tries with the Minehead eight taking her tally to four tries and one conversion.

A very creditable second half performance by Chard saw them concede less than half the points of the first half.