CHARD RUGBY REPORT
FOR
 SATURDAY 25TH NOVEMBER 2006
BY GLYN HUGHES

SOMERSET PREMIER LEAGUE       ST BERNADETTES 11PTS CHARD 17PTS

This was Chards 5th away win in the league this season and was the result of a magnificent performance in the second half when they were playing directly into the teeth of a ferocious gale.
Chard were forced to make several changes with Chris Bond and John Porter not being available for selection and Richard Jones suffering from flu.  Paul Nicholls continued at scrum half and Jones went on the bench.
Ben Stead made a welcome return following his stint of voluntary service in Kenya.
The St Bernadettes ground is without doubt the most exposed of grounds at the best of times but the gale force wind and sleet driving straight down the ground on Saturday made conditions as bad as they could be.
Chard had the elements in their favour in the opening half and quickly took an early lead with a well struck penalty from Nicholls. Chard however were struggling to win much of their own ball in both scrums and lineouts and as a result were unable to use the conditions as much as they would have liked. They got driven back time and again and the home side drew level with a penalty from Matt James. Skipper Jim Wagstaff had reverted to his best position of number 8 for this game and he put Chard ahead with a powerful run from the base of the scrum to score under the posts. Nicholls converted to put Chard ahead by 7 points after 25mins. play.  Chard lost the services of Paul Wright for a short while because of a blood injury and he was temporarily replaced by Jon King. Just before half time Chard were punished for a series of bad tackles when  Matt James went over for an unconverted try for the hosts. Half Time  St Bernadettes 8pts Chard 10pts.
This slender 2point lead hardly seemed enough now that Chard were playing against such a strong wind but a disciplined performance for most of the half would see them home. Chard began to look much more composed in the set pieces and were beginning to steal a significant amount of lineout ball. They cut out …well most of the time…the wild passes of the first half and kept things short and simple. They constantly harried the home defence and Ben King  took full advantage of a knock on and dived on the loose ball to score a try  which Nicholls converted superbly against the strong wind. Having got ahead Chard then committed the cardinal sin of allowing the opposition to get back into the game by conceding a soft penalty which James duly converted. A great run by Nicholls down the blind side was stopped very close to the line and despite playing against the elements Chard had the better of the half and held on for another fine victory.
CHARD TEAM;- DERMAN, HENDY, MORTON, HENLEY, WRIGHT, MACKIE, WAGSTAFF, SUMMERS, NICHOLLS, TWIGG, STEAD, HELLIAR, HERBERT, KING, FINLAY.
REPLACEMENTS :- KING for WRIGHT,  JONES (not used)

Chard 2nd xv were given a walkover and then points in their home league match against Wheatsheaf cabin crew because the opposition were unable to raise aside.

CHARD 3RD XV 24pts  WINSCOMBE 3rd xv 19pts.
Chard scored two tries in the opening half with scores from Craig Elsworth and Tom Frecknell repectively
Clive Adams converted one of them but two converted tries from Winscombe gave the visitiors a 2 pt interval lead. Chard lost Adams to the sin bin early in the second half and  an amusing moment followed  when the referee could not identify the culprit from the Winscombe side who was also involved. The Winscombe captain did not know which of his players was involved but  then “helped “ the ref by nominating a player to go to the bin!! Needless to say it was not the correct one!! The game was being played in fine style and Chard scored two further tries when Finn O‘Brien and Adams went over with the latter adding another conversion .

Next Saturday Chard 1stxv are at home to Tor Rugby club in the Somerset Premier League and the 2nd xv are away at Wincanton in a Dorset and Wilts league 2 match. Both games ko at 2.30pm The 3rd xv are looking for a pool game.