Teams 
Depleted Bideford went down 52-7 at Chard where they were up against it before they arrived.
The travelling party was hard hit by injuries from the previous week’s win over Burnham and having another five players at a wedding did not help.
Chard controlled the game from the start and things got worse for Bideford in the first 30 minutes, when they gave away two penalty tries and collected two yellow cards.
Bradley Goaman, the team manager said: “The damage had been done and we could not really get a foot hold in the game.
“You can’t win a rugby match if you can’t dominate your set piece and we came second best most of the afternoon.”
Chard may have dominated in most areas, but there were plus points too.
Bideford created plenty of scoring opportunities, but frustrated the management by not taking many of them. More tangible were some individual performances from old faces back in the side and newcomers too.
“Captain Alex Priest put in a hard 80 minutes with big hits and strong ball carrying in his first game back after a long injury,” said Goaman.
“Player-coach Mark Lee had a strong game at 12 with no nonsense tackling and Nick Evans had a strong game on the wing.
“Jono Slee made his debut coming off the bench and also played well.
“It was a frustrating game, but credit to the players as they kept going until the final whistle.”
Wingman Evans scored Bideford’s only try and Reece Pearn kicked the conversion.
It’s Falmouth at home for Bideford this Saturday and Goaman knows what he wants to see.
“A reaction from the players to put things correct on the pitch,” said Goaman.
