Tribute Regional 2 South West: Chard 31-0 North Petherton

Chard made it three wins in a row with this excellent bonus point victory and they really did dominate the match for long periods.

Their performance was certainly a big step up from the game at Pethy earlier in the season when they were well beaten.

Chard have found bonus points of any description hard to get so this one was very welcome and deserved.

The Chard forwards looked a formidable outfit from the start and they were instrumental in putting their side into the lead after 11 minutes when following a kick to the corner they won the resulting lineout and Matt Tinley powered over for a try which was converted by Oscar Andersen. 7-0.

Tinley would go on to a terrific match. With the first quarter coming to an end Tinley crossed for his second try to take Chard 12pts clear with the conversion kick narrowly missing the target.

Chard lost the services of Dean Richards to injury, and he was replaced by Joe Mainwaring who within minutes had made his mark on the game when he broke clear with the ball and the visiting defense had no answer as he crossed for the third try which again went unconverted to give Chard a 17pt advantage at the break.

Other than giving away too many o penalties all be it not in too dangerous areas Chard had played well as a team throughout the half and were well worth their lead.

A slightly dodgy start to the second half brought back memories of last weekend but Chard to a man defended superbly and weathered some early pressure from the visitors.

Tinley and Dave Morton were terrific with both players making it a difficult afternoon for Pethy and with Jack Elliott and Jason Wright winning good lineout ball it surely would not be long before Chard got that elusive bonus point.

It came in the 57th minute when Tinley went over for his third try which was converted by Andersen. 24-0

Chard rotated their front row and the first to come off for a breather was Dave Biss who was replaced by Charlie Tribble.

With ten minutes to go Biss came back on for skipper Luke Aplin and following a running move from deep in their own half a refreshed Biss was there to crash over for Chard’s 5th and final try of the game which was again converted by Andersen.

As well as the overall display of the forwards the real plus point for Chard was a much improved performance of the backs and their thou shalt not get through attitude with Joe Massey doing particularly well.

Despite this win Chard need to give similar performances in the coming weeks to ensure they get away from the danger zone they still find themselves in although they are now 6 points clear of the team below them and also have 2 games in hand.

Chard’s next game is away at Sherborne this coming Friday evening kicking off at 7.30pm.