After two great wins on the bounce a tough afternoon was expected against a big Chard side. The unveiling of the new club shirts for the new club sponsors brought a big crowd up to beggars brook. The only unforced change for Pethy was at scrum-half where Neil Lennox was given his first game of the season after impressing for the Second team ahead of the experienced Kevin Rybaruk. Player coach Matt Foad was unavailable which reunited previous season's centre pairing of Rob Havill and Chris Burge. Two more players were promoted to the bench after playing well for the Seconds, ex-Pethy colt, Powerhouse Adam Modrzynski, was on the bench after returning to the club and he was also joined by utility back Chris Powell. Conditions were worse than the previous weeks of summer-like sunhine with a strong wind and rain in the air.

In the early stages of the match both sides looked to get the first points on board and after sustained pressure and good hands from backs and forwards a try was scored to settle the nerves of the home side by Chris Burge, who finished off an attack that started deep in the Pethy half. A penalty soon followed as Chard got on the wrong side of the referee, their scrum half getting 10 minutes in the sin bin. Petherton’s control on the game changed with the sin-binning of their No.8 Matt Brown for taking the law into his own hands.

Two soft converted tries were then conceded, both scored by Chard's big No.8, and both after quick breaks from around the fringes. Tom Williams responed with a penalty for Pethy but Chard's scrum-half again exploited space near the breakdown to slide over for the visitors third try. This went unconverted and Tom Williams again responed with a good penalty to keep his side in the game at 13-19 down by the break.

After a stern talking to at half-time, Petherton came out a totally different outfit. Straight from the re-start Petherton took the game by the scruff of the neck and ran in two tries during a period of sustained dominance. The first was scored by Lloyd Williams, who wrong-footed an out-numbered Chard defence to score from outside the 22, and the second by Tom Williams, who finished off a great team try, which included a good run by Chris Powell, who had replaced Perrin at half-time.

Chard were unable to stop Petherton’s pack in the scrum and their backs were no match for the home side's. Every time the ball went wide Petherton looked dangerous with holes being punched in midfield by Chris Burge in particular. Chris Powell looked a constant threat, hitting the ball at pace and going close on several occasions. Throughout the second-half the visitors conceded many penalties and anything in the Chard half Captain Lloyd Williams called Tom Williams up to have a shot at goal, and he only missed 2 out of his nine attempts at the posts, with several being from wide out into the wind. Adam Modrzynski came on for Robinson mid-way through the second-half and made an instant impact, further strengthening the dominant home pack.

Right on full-time, the referee, who had taken quite some criticism from the away support, awarded Chard a dubious penalty try for constant infringement on the try-line by the home side. However, this did not cost Petherton as it was the final play of the match and another fine victory was achieved. The Petherton pack totally dominated again in the scrum and the backs looked sharp and defended brilliantly at times.

H/T: 13-19

Tries: C.Burge, L.Williams, T.Williams

Cons: T.Williams (2)

Pens: T.Williams (5)

Drop Goals:

Team: 15. T.Williams, 14. B.Williams, 13. C.Burge, 12. Havill, 11. Perrin (Rep. Powell, 40), 10. Lloyd Williams, 9. Lennox, 1. M.Burge (Rep. Prescott, 65), 2. S.Williams, 3. H.Brown, 4. Lees, 5. Gingell, 6. Taylor, 7. Robinson (Rep. Modrzynski, 55), 8. M.Brown.