BARFC 37, Chard RFC 14 (19/11/16)

Home captain Ollie Dunn led from the front with four tries in this hard fought game of two very contrasting halves. At the end it was Bridgwater who ran out the comfortable winners as a result of which they climb to seventh in the table.

The hosts were in the ascendancy from the off and after crossing the try line only for the ball to be held up, after 16 minutes Dunn gave Bridgwater the lead when he went scored a try that Stuart Heal converted.

Within five minutes Chard levelled when John Humphreys latched onto a stray Bridgwater pass and hacked the ball towards the right hand corner before  collecting and touching down for a try that he converted.

Chard then took the lead on 26 minutes when new signing Raqib Siljeur collected a loose ball and beat the home defence before scoring a try that Humphreys converted.

Bridgwater came back strongly but on more than one occasion they were let down by their final pass and Chard were able to clear their lines.

With five minutes to go until the break however a series of good moves for the home side was rewarded when Dunn went over for his second try that was unconverted  as the half ended 12-14 in favour of the visitors.

From the re-start Bridgwater created pressure and edged ever closer to the Chard line, but once again were unable to turn this into points, until after 15 minutes Ethan Trebble-Westlake latched onto a loose ball and scored an unconverted try.

Chard were reduced to 14 men when Matt Tinley was shown a yellow card and from the ensuing penalty in front of the posts Heal extended the Bridgwater lead to 20-14.

The hosts continued to drive forward and Dunn picked up his hat-trick try when he crashed over in the right hand corner following a line out.

There was no stopping the Bridgwater forwards and following a driving maul on the left Dunn scored his fourth try from close range which Heal converted to make it 32-14.

Bridgwater weren’t done yet and their continued pressure was rewarded with a sixth try, this time for Micky Norman from close range as the game ended 37-14.

Before the match the Friends of Bridgwater and Albion RFC hosted a lunch for 228 members and guests that raised in excess of £2000 all of which will be ploughed back into the club.

Bridgwater and Albion- Lewis Phillips, Shaun Mahoney, Joe Bussell, Ali Blundell, Dan Kemmish, Taylor Buller, Ollie Dunn (capt), Micky Norman, James Collins, Stuart Heal, Sam Britton, Luke Plummer, Rob Allen, Oscar Tregenna, Brad Field.

Replacements all used- Ethan Trebble- Westlake, Nick Bradley and Adrian Chew.

Chard- David Bliss, Ben Robinson, Luke Aplin, Warren Lewis, John Humphreys, William Hopkinson, Matt Tinley, Glenn Harding, Ben Johnson, Raqib Siljeur, Taalieb Johnson, Mikaeel Hartley, Ryan Hellier (capt), Gavin Watts and Ben Stead.

Replacements- Ben Mainwaring, Jack Larcombe and Bryan Mays.

Scorers- Bridgwater and Albion- tries- Ollie Dunn- 4, Ethan Trebble- Westlake 1 and Micky Norman 1.

Penalties-1  Stuart Hall. Conversions 2- Heal.