The season opener for Chard A saw them hosting Taunton Vale D on a hot afternoon at Holyrood Academy. The sides are regular combatants, having both been in GoCrea8 South East Division 2 for a number of years, each side having come close to promotion for several years.

Chard were forced to start the game with just 10 men, due to many team regulars taking late summer holidays, and stand-ins Murray and Gary Wheaton arriving only half way through the first period. This didn’t seem to impact Chard’s hockey though, and despite being a man down they were able to match Vale on the pitch, soaking up their attacks with Nick Liggins, Dave Lury, Chris Knight, and Tom Eames coping admirably in defence for the home side.

Chard actually took the lead after 12 minutes with some excellent individual skill from last season’s top scorer Dan Stone. Breaking in to the box he took on the keeper and seeing that he was committed comfortably took the ball round him to slot it in to the back of the net. This was a catalyst for Chard to pile on the pressure, and now up to a full complement following the late arrival of the Wheatons, they continued to attack down both flanks with Harry Felgate linking effectively with Liggins on the right hand side of pitch.
Chard maintained their lead through to half time, and captain Gareth Eggle asked for more of the same in the second half.

Vale came in to the second period a more galvanised side, with their own late arrival joining in midfield and having an immediate effect on play, Eggle and co-midfielder Jason Goddard were required to play much deeper as Vale piled on the pressure using the whole pitch well. They managed to restore parity after sustained pressure ultimately yielded a penalty stroke which the valiant Berge Balian playing between the posts for Chard was unable to keep out of the back of the net. Vale then scored a second goal after the umpires’ vision was obscured meaning a critical obstruction was missed and allowed the visitors to slot home.

Going down to an opposition they felt they were comfortably the equal of injected some urgency in to the home team, and they began to pile on the pressure on the visitors creating numerous opportunities to restore parity. They were rewarded for the industry when Gary Wheaton slotted home a rebound after another excellent effort from Stone came back off the post.

Chard continued their pressure until the final whistle, and despite an excellent effort from all involved were unable to get the third goal and secure victory.

Thanks to Hannah McGown and Tina O’Connell for umpiring on the day.