Hannay torments his Honiton Under-7 team mates with eleven tries as a guest for hosts Chard

Playing their first match of 2014, Honiton Tigers Under-7s were left reeling after suffering three defeats in four matches played at Chard on Sunday.

Despite a comfortable 16-9 victory in their opening game, Honiton were a shadow of the side which ended last year on a high, and were duly punished for their rustiness against a better organised Somerset outfit.

Once again the visitors travelled with good numbers and loaned a couple of players to Chard after the opening round of games – a decision which proved decisive in helping Chard avenge defeat at Northcote Lane earlier in the season. Harvey Hannay, who also played for Chard in the reverse fixture, was a menace to his own team mates as he scored 11 tries in a 12-8 win for Chard in the second match on the top pitch.

Robert Hennessy was the star turn for Honiton, scoring seven tries, while Tyler Patch (4), Tom Phillips (4), Dylan Burrough, Hannay (3), Alfie Kent (2) and Harry Kent were the Tigers’ others try scorers.

Ewan Powers-Maguire helped himself to four tries as the Tigers narrowly lost 12-11 on the bottom pitch in their opening game. Jake Carter (3), Finley Backhouse, Charlie Pickering, Jake Downs and Daniel Al-Sedani were the others to cross the whitewash but it wasn’t enough to force victory in a keenly fought game.

Chard were loaned Al-Sedani and he tormented his own team with the bulk of Chard’s tries in a 14-9 win in game two. Powers-Maguire grabbed a hat-trick for the visitors, whose other scorers were Backhouse (2), Pickering, Downs, Carter and debutant Sam Olliff.