Yatton were well beaten at home by league leaders Chard.

A MINUTES silence was held before the game in remembrance of Ed Heal, a 19-year-old trainee army tank driver.

He played for Yatton from Under-7 to 16 level, and was tragically killed in a road accident on Christmas Day.

The beefy experienced visitors, bolstered by the usual imports, got off to a blistering start with a collapsing scrum penalty try after six minutes.

The fourth bonus try came after only 30 minutes making the score line 26-0, but Yatton’s set pieces, especially in line-outs, easily matched anything that the top of the league side could manage.

For 10 minutes before half-time, Chard were held back until, in injury time, the Yatton side received its first yellow card and a rolling maul claimed another five points for the visitors. Chard’s well-drilled and confident machine continued throughout the second half, but Yatton never gave up and continued to give the opposition a heavily contested game which received supporter’s respect.

On Saturday, Yatton 1st XV travel the short distance to Weston Hornets, while the 2nd XV remain at home to Wiveliscombe 2nds and the 3rds travel to meet Keynsham 4ths.