Chard were left rue a brilliant second half display from Wellington in their latest Tribute Regional 2 South West encounter as their visitors fought back to win 27-14 at Essex Close last Saturday.
 
The game was very evenly contested in the first half, but Wellington were very dominant in the later stages and fully deserved their victory.

 This was a rearranged game following a postponement several weeks ago but despite having to make several changes Chard were still able to field a very competitive side.

Not for the first time this season Chard did not start the game well and some early dodgy decision making saw them concede a very kickable penalty which fortunately for them went wide of the posts. 

A few minutes later a miscued kick down field gave the strong running visiting backs a chance to counter attack and Tyler Hart crossed for an excellent but unconverted try.

Chard picked up the pace and following a kick to the corner and a scrummage they won good ball and skipper Luke Aplin brought the scores level with a fine try. Emile Szydelko added the conversion points with a good kick to give Chard a narrow two advantage.

The match was very evenly contested for the rest of the half but Chard increased their lead when Jack Elliot crossed  for another try after some excellent work by the forwards. Szydelko again added the extras to give Chard a 14-5 advantage. 

Minutes before the break Wellington scored another unconverted try with Oliver Price going over as Chard led 14-10 at half-time.

Wellington upped their game in the second half and were well on top. Chard had to use all their replacements because of injury concerns and their cause  in the last 30 minutes was not helped by the subsequent positional changes

The Wellington backs were just too strong and added three more tries through Danny Lee, George Hodgson and Price, converted by Scott Davey, to win comfortably.

Next Saturday Chard travel to Cornwall to play St Austell.

Chard seconds were edged out 26-24 by Bridgwater & Albion in their Tribute Counties 3 Somerset South encounter last Saturday.

Billy Vernon, Dylan Moss, Ross Fanyinka and Scott Johnson scored tries for Chard, with Vernon kicking over two conversion.

Despite the narrow loss Chard picked up two bonus points and return to action Saturday against Castle Cary.

Former Holyrood student Mike Bland, who now lives and works in Scotland, is doing a bike ride from The Principality Stadium in Cardiff to Murrayfield in Edinburgh to raise money for Motor Neurone Disease (MND).

Doddie Weir, one of Scotland’s finest ever players, sadly died from the disease in 2022 and high profile sports people like rugby league international  Rob Burrow and west country footballer Marcus Stewart are fighting the condition which currently has no cure. 

Bland and the many others will be doing the ride to get to Murrayfield before Scotland v Wales this Saturday.

Anyone wishing to support Mike in this venture and raise funds to find a cure for MND go to www.justgiving.com/fundraising/teamnevermnd.