Regional 2 Tribute South West: Chard 20-32 Teignmouth

IT was a very busy day at the club on Saturday with mini and junior matches at all age levels taking place against teams from Farnham and North Dorset in the morning before the 1st xv took on Devon rivals Teignmouth in the afternoon in front of one of the biggest crowds of the season, writes Glyn Hughes.

Chard went into this game with high hopes of getting a crucial win against a team they had beaten by the narrowest of margins earlier in the season but  after a well contested opening half the visitors had the better of the second and deservedly took the spoils.

Teignmouth took an early lead when they comfortably converted a straight forward penalty attempt but this was quickly cancelled out when Niall Crouch levelled things up with a penalty of his own.

Chard have been left wanting at restarts  on too many occasions during the season and conceded another penalty almost immediately which was again duly goaled by the full back to put Teignmouth back in front.

Chard then had a real purple match for the next quarter of the game and pulled ahead for the first time with a terrific  forwards try when they totally dominated play and Alfred  Busby got the touchdown for an unconverted try.

No mistakes from the re start this time and Chard drove Teignmouth back into their 22 area again before setting up a cross kick from Crouch which was well taken by Jacob Bond who still a had a bit to do before crossing in the corner for a splendid try which was again although unconverted gave Chard a13-6 advantage.

Unfortunately Chard made a hash again of the restart and the mistake led to the visitors turning over possession which  gave them an opportunity to set up a counter attack  from which they  scored their first try close to the posts. The try was converted and the scores were now level. Although Chard lost a player to the bin they played well and the score and the teams reached the break all square.

It was surely anybody’s game to win with Chard looking dominant up front with Dave Biss, Aiden Capel  Jack Elliot and indeed all the forwards looking strong but Teignmouth were a side that looked really sharp when in possession  and did not give the ball away cheaply.

Winger Fin Shoemark looked to have scored a superb try early in the second half for Chard  but had just strayed into touch which was a real let off for the Teignmouth lads.

For most of the second half Teignmouth kept possession really well and aided at times by some suspect defensive tackling crossed for two converted tries to lead by 13-25.

Both sides had players sent to the bin in an entertaining game but on the balance of play it was hard to deny that the Devon  side   were looking the better side at this stage  and they emphasised this when crossing for a 4th bonus point try which increased their advantage to 13-32.

Chard continued to work hard and their commitment could not be faulted and they were rewarded when the referee correctly awarded them a penalty try which  reduce the arrears by seven points.

At this stage Chard were certainly capable of getting another score which would have given them two bonus points but despite their efforts it was not to be and they finished an entertaining and close game with another close defeat.

The 2nd xv game against Castle Cary was called off due to a waterlogged pitch and will now be played on 30th March