Somerset Premier League. St Bernadettes 11, Chard 1st XV 17.

THIS was Chard's fifth away win in the league this season and was the result of a magnificent performance in the second half when they were playing directly into the teeth of a ferocious gale.

Chard were forced to make several changes with Chris Bond and John Porter not being available for selection and Richard Jones suffering from flu. Paul Nicholls continued at scrum half and Jones went on the bench. Ben Stead made a welcome return following his stint of voluntary service in Kenya.

The St Bernadettes ground is without doubt the most exposed at the best of times but the gale force wind and sleet driving straight down the ground on Saturday made conditions as bad as they could be. Chard had the elements in their favour in the opening half and quickly took an early lead with a well struck penalty from Nicholls. Chard however were struggling to win much of their own ball in both scrums and lineouts and as a result were unable to use the conditions as much as they would have liked. They got driven back time and again and the home side drew level with a penalty from Matt James.

Skipper Jim Wagstaff had reverted to his best position of number eight for this game and he put Chard ahead with a powerful run from the base of the scrum to score under the posts. Nicholls converted to put Chard ahead by seven points after 25 minutes. Chard lost the services of Paul Wright for a short while because of a blood injury and he was temporarily replaced by Jon King. Just before half time Chard were punished for a series of bad tackles when Matt James went over for an unconverted try for the hosts.

This slender two-point lead hardly seemed enough now that Chard were playing against such a strong wind but a disciplined performance for most of the half would see them home. Chard began to look much more composed in the set pieces and were beginning to steal a significant amount of lineout ball. They cut out the wild passes of the first half and kept things short and simple. They constantly harried the home defence and Ben King took full advantage of a knock on and dived on the loose ball to score a try which Nicholls converted superbly against the strong wind.

Having got ahead Chard then committed the cardinal sin of allowing the opposition to get back into the game by conceding a soft penalty which James duly converted. A great run by Nicholls down the blind side was stopped very close to the line and despite playing against the elements Chard had the better of the half and held on for another fine victory.

Team: Derman, Hendy, Morton, Henley, Wright, Mackie, Wagstaff, Summers, Nicholls, Twigg, Stead, Helliar, Herbert, King, Finlay.

Replacements: King For Wright, Jones (not used) THIS Saturday Chard 1st XV are at home to Tor in the Somerset Premier League, kick off 2.30pm.