Both Newton Abbot All Whites and Chard RFC were last in action against Bridgwater, the latter’s fixture being over a month ago, writes Jamie Rooke.

The pair went to battle at Rackerhayes this time around and it was Chard who prevailed, in some gruelling conditions.

There were a number of changes to the Newton XV side that were put to the sword by Wadebridge Camels in their last home outing. Amongst those, the trio of Tom Osborne, Jack Whorton and George Heath, who were on the bench then, were in from the start this time around.

Chard were the side to open the scoring through Max Gosden. With 10 minutes on the clock, a collective drive resulted in the first points of the game, and with an Oscar Andersen conversion to match.

This try was symbolic of what was to come in the first half as the All Whites struggled massively up front. Scrums and mauls were a real struggle and it got the better of the home team.

Newton prop Alex Gale had been warned a number of times by the referee and clearly did not learn his lesson, with the man in charge reaching for a yellow card.

Talking of the match official and he was, perhaps, premature on blowing for a penalty in favour of Chard with them crashing over the try-line just moments later. It didn’t prove to be an issue though as the subsequent scrum was successful, from which Dave Morton was on hand to touch down. This time around the additional two points were squandered.

Morton was the man of the moment for the side from Somerset. Yet another dominant scrum bore fruit with the number six making it 17-0 on the brink of the break.

It was a completely different Newton Abbot team that came out for the second half, scoring a try of their own with just a couple of minutes gone.

Corey Whane punched a hole in the Chard defence and came close to scoring himself. Simple passing along the line from there resulted in Tom Osborne fighting his way over the line.

Jack Sweeney converted and the game was afoot, at 17-7.

A few substitutions were made by both sides whilst a second man in white, Matt Dowrick, saw yellow, but this did nothing to affect the host’s momentum.

Jake Bury was one of those to enter the fray and he was on the scene to continue the fightback, getting All Whites into losing bonus point range.

Another Sweeney kick made it a three-point game.

It wasn’t to be for Newton despite a valiant effort, making it six losses on the spin. Their last taste of victory came way back in early November, over Sherborne RFC.