Oldland lost at home to surprise league leaders Chard in one of the only few games to survive the weather/ Despite a further night of heavy rain the pitch was firm and playable thanks to the time and money spent on midweek verti-draining of the surface.
The O's line up is now taking a more familiar look although a couple of new faces are planned for next weekend with transfer finalisations due to take place.
The game started before a large crowd including several former Os players looking to come back to the club under the rebuild and a small but noisy contingent from the visitors. Oldland had a great start with Josh Williams slotting home after only two minutes but Chard equalised soon after. Both sides had chances in the first half that went missing including close range shockers from both the hosts and their opponents. The referee was a busy man as almost every decision was greeted with shouts from the visiting supporters including what we think was the town crier bellowing from his seat for the whole match whilst downing Thatchers. He was over the moon and nearly swallowed his teeth when Chard took the lead.
The second half was much the same, both sides had chances, both sides had players booked as the constant barracking seemed to affect the referees game and the linesman asked for a supply of earplugs from the chemist. Unfortunately it was not to be Oldland's day as in pushing forward for a late equaliser a long ball saw the Chard forward through and despite getting to the ball outside his box first keeper Manns could not prevent the goal. The final whistle lead to shouts from now behind the goal superfan of "3-1 3-1" as he went inside to finish the rest of the barrel of Thatchers he had been drinking.
A shame to lose, once again O's have given away rather than conceded goals but we crack on and hope to get something from Bishops Cleeve on Tuesday night