Taunton CS v Chard

Taunton travelled to Chard on the 6th December to take on a Chard team who were sitting just above them in 3rd place and a Taunton would win would see them leap frog Chard to reach the lofty heights of the top three.

Taunton were bolstered in defence by the return of Miles Cave, Ben Caile and Harry Elsmore however Taunton started the game as quickly as the traffic was moving in Taunton……a standstill. Chard were allowed to play with almost undisputed possession in the Taunton half for the first five minutes and Taunton soon found themselves two goals down with barely a quarter of the game played. Taunton finally got their act together enjoying both more possession and territory and Lee Slade was able to take finish well from close range on two occasions in order to put Taunton back on level terms. With the game finally moving in the right direction both Simon Jones was able to convert a trade mark short corner and Fin Porter was able to connect with a half volley to roof the ball into the net to give Taunton a 2 goal lead at half time.

Taunton knew that they could not afford to start the second half as they did the first. However the half time pep talk did little to prevent that as Chard were straight back in the game with two goals in the first ten minutes of the second half to bring the game back to an even 4 -4. Fortunately it did not take long for Taunton to reclaim the lead as a resulting short corner was able to drag the ball into the roof of the net past the outstretched Chard keeper. Chard continued to try and press in the second half however attacks were dealt with by the defence as they were able to clear out wide to Jesse Mooney and Pete Wintripp on the midfield. A slight change in formation saw Ben Witt move up front to provide some additional movement and to allow Taunton to hold up the ball. The tactics worked as Chard options to get back on even terms were reducing. Ben Witt in his striking role was able to convert to give Taunton a two goal cushion going into the final ten minutes. Spurred on by the celebrations and support from a very vocal James Coles Taunton were able to see the game out and secure a 6-4 win and to claim 3rd place in the league.

There were a number of notable performances with both Harry Elsmore and Pete Wintripp putting in good shifts down the right had side and it was encouraging for both Lee Slade and Fin Porter to find the net for the second week running. However M.O.M was awarded to Ben Witt while D.O.D was awarded to Miles Cave for being sensationally “nutmeged” by Chard for one of their goals.
Team was as follows;

Miles Cave (GK), Jason Harris, Ali Johnston (c), Harry Elsmore, Ben Caile, Jim Smith, Simon Jones (2), Ben Witt (1), Jesse Mooney, Lee Slade (2), Fin Porter (1), Curtis Bradley, James Coles and Pete Wintripp