CHARD RUGBY REPORT FOR SATURDAY 4TH NOVEMBER 2006    BY GLYN HUGHES
SOMERSET PREMIER LEAGUE
GORDANO 1ST XV 10PTS  CHARD 1ST XV 43PTS

Chard won on the road for the fourth time this season and this was by far their biggest win to date. Ironically however Chard have played a lot better than this in most of their other games and come away with less reward.
Both sides were missing some key players for a variety of reasons but Chard have  a number of flair players and on the day they played a crucial part in setting up this very comfortable victory.
Chard played up the slight slope in the opening half and started the match in brilliant style. Chard won an early penalty and quickly ran the ball before Gordano had settled. The ball was worked wide by Hendy and Twigg before being passed to fullback Josh Finlay who took the ball at speed and raced over for a fine try which he also converted to give Chard a 7pt advantage. Flanker John Porter made two superb breaks but a few basic handling errors that followed prevented Chard from going further ahead.  Gordano got back into the game and Chard were finding things difficult in the set pieces which is normally a solid part  of their game. The game was quite scrappy for 15minutes or so and Gordano looked likely to score but some individual brilliance from Finlay put Chard back in control. With Chard under a lot of pressure Finlay made a break from his own line and left several players standing as he burst up field before linking with skipper Wagstaff who scored under the posts. Finlay converted the try he had created and in doing so doubled the Chard lead. After another spell of very ordinary rugby Chard went further ahead after 32minutes play. Porter made good ground and aided by Wagstaff  linked up with Ben King who went over for an unconverted try. Chard who have not always been the best defensive side recently were making some really big tackles and no one was more effective in this area than King.
For a side at the wrong end of the table Gordano were putting up a spirited performance and right on the half time whistle they drove Chard back over their own line from a maul and scored an unconverted try to trail 5pts to 19pts at the interval.
At the beginning of the second half Chard found themselves in a good attacking position only to kick away possession. Gordano counter attacked well and could well have scored. The referee then deemed that Chard no8 Mark Parsons was guilty of a technical offence and he was sent to the sin bin for ten minutes. Gordano took full advantage of this  and reduced the deficit with another unconverted try. On occasions teams often find extra reserves of energy when they are players short and this proved to be the case. Finlay made another telling break and linked up well with hooker Hendy who in turn fed Richard Lovelock with a nicely weighted pass. Props do not get many chances to score in open play and Lovelock made the most of the opportunity and raced into the corner for Chards 4th try of the game which was duly converted. Gordano were running out of steam and also had a player sinbinned for foul play. This gave Chard more opportunities to score and they went further ahead. From the initial foul Chard kicked to the corner and scored a set piece try from the resultant lineout with Hendy being credited with the score. Finlay again converted to put his side well in control. James Herbert was playing well on the wing for the visitors and he set up Skipper Wagstaff for his second try of the game. An injury to a Gordano player in the final quarter of the game held up play for some time as an ambulance was required. As a result the match was completed on an adjoining pitch and Parsons scored Chards final try when he broke clear from the back of a scrimmage. In the end then a very comfortable looking win for Chard but they will surely be grateful for a fine individual game from Finlay.
CHARD TEAM;-LOVELOCK, HENDY, SINGLETON, HENLEY,WRIGHT, PORTER, PARSONS, MACKIE, R.  JONES, TWIGG, KING, LEES, HERBERT, WAGSTAFF, FINLAY. REPLACEMENTS ;-SUMMERS, T. JONES (BOTH USED)

CHARD 1OPTS  NORTH DORSET 17PTS  ( Dorset and Wilts league 2 south)
Chard were unfortunate to lose this very well contested match. Chard led by 10pts tp 7pts at half time thanks to a try from Mick Duffy and a  conversion and a penalty from Paul Nicholls. The forwards played well particularly Robert Hall and it was good to see former 1st xv stars Neil Jones and Neil Francis playing again.  In the second half North Dorset  exploited some weak tackling and did just enough to claim the points.

The 3rd xv game at Bath Old Edwardians was cancelled because the Bath Side could not raise a team.

Next Saturday Chard 1st xv are at home to Nailsea and Backwell in a league Match ko 2.30pm.
2nd xv are away at Salisbury ko 2.30pm