For long periods of this scrappy game, Chard looked to be suffering for the absence of a fixture last week. Players having their first competitive match since December were not alone in lacking sharpness and urgency during a subdued first half performance. Fortunately, Yeovil were similarly low key for much of the first 35 minutes, although they created a few chances from occasional promising moves and Tony Millett in goal was called into action to keep the game goalless. For Chard, their best chance of the half came from Gary Wheaton's reverse stick flick from the top of the D which surprised Yeovil's keeper, the ball wedging under his feet and then somehow being smuggled to safety by defenders in the ensuing melee.

The first 20 minutes of the second half saw an improvement of sorts from the home side but nothing to suggest they were going to do better than grind out a draw. Millett and his defence were having to dig deep to resist a steady string of penalty corners and Yeovil engineered a shooting opportunity from open play which saw a cross shot slip just the wrong side of the post.

The turning point came after Chard lost Paul Bradshaw to a leg injury as he fell awkwardly from making a tackle. Following several minutes stoppage for Paul to be helped from the pitch, the game was transformed on the hour mark, a quick free hit by Wheaton from just outside the Yeovil 23 metre line finding Alfie Baker-Pike loitering just wide of the goal post from where he deflected the ball into the net. The lead was doubled 4 minutes later as Ian Wait found more of his old touch. Dribbling towards the D, with umpire Trevor Goss playing advantage despite the ball hitting defenders' feet, Wait fired in a cross which Baker-Pike glanced on from the near post into the path of Theo Pedder at the far post for him to score his first senior level goal for the club. Wait almost made it three nil minutes later following Chard's own sequence of penalty corners, his low shot being deflected wide by the keeper's stick.

Thanks to umpires Trevor Goss and Gareth Eggle

Squad: T Millett, P Bradshaw, N Parris, P Sainsbury, S Mahoney, S Green, G Wheaton (c), G Parris, I Wait, B Berryman, A Cheffey, N Green, A Baker-Pike, T Pedder.