‘Another tough day for Lydney’
Report and Pictures by Roger Pike
Exmouth 51 Lydney 22
Still without a win in 2025 Lydney made the trip down into Devon to play promotion chasing Exmouth writes Roger Pike. Exmouth boasting a big pack would provide a stern test for the visitors who were forced into changes and drafted in a couple of experienced players from the United side. Arnott selected five front row players knowing the scrum was going to be crucial, Myers, Knox and Mullis started with Bayliss and Baker replacements. With Pat Hanslow unavailable Luke Hudson moved into the second row with Kurt Brown joining the back row and Joe Hamlin started at outside half. With some real pace in the pack and backs it was critical Lydney adopted a fast game plan but despite a good performance they came up short against a side who rarely lose at home.
Lydney made an energetic start and immediately had the hosts under pressure, a superb break from Brad Dunn saw him tackled just short. More pressure saw them win a penalty in front of the posts, opting to run a drive from Mike Massey was short but Kurt Brown was on hand to drive over and open the scoring 0 -5. The hosts responded from the kick off wining a penalty which George Meadows slotted for 3 – 5. Exmouth then gained some control camped in the Lydney half; another penalty followed which Meadows kicked 6 – 5. The hosts are dominant now and soon back on the attack but a lose pass saw an interception from Dunn who went the length of the pitch to score, Tom Broady added the conversion 6 – 12. The hosts regained their composure and were soon back on the attack, a penalty won saw them kick to the corner. From the line out the forwards drove with a Dave Sargent try 11 – 12. Exmouth regained the restart and quickly scored again 18 – 12. The hosts were dominant now especially at scrum time winning numerous penalties and Lydney are struggling to get any field position. Some poor defence saw the hosts score again through Matt Ryan which Meadows converted 25 – 12. With the scrum issues James Bayliss received an unfortunate yellow card and the hosts took full advantage of the 14 men to score 30 -12 and end the half.
The second half started where the first half ended with the hosts dominating the game and soon rattled up three tries to pass the fifty mark at 51 -12 and looking a long afternoon for the Bledisloe Club. However, having scored two tries a further two would get them a valuable bonus point to avoid a relegation battle, and the visitors showed their metal with a solid last twenty minutes. Jack Knox was having a good game at hooker but was forced off with concussion, Frowen, Hudson, Mullis and Massey were again putting in a solid display. The experienced Kurt Brown was putting in a superb performance along with Frowen winning some good tackles and turnover ball. The backs created a couple of great chances through Nelmes, Dunn, Large and Harrison but the defence held firm. Another attack saw the very impressive Scriven tackled just short but an offload to Ellis Deans-Smith would surely have seen a score. However, the forwards created a few good drives, and Sam Baker was on hand to power through the remaining defender to score 51 – 17. With time running out Lydney were pounding the hosts line with some great breaks from Large and Brad Dunn who was dangerous every time he got the ball. Following a few forward drives saw Broady spin the ball out and winger Ethan Ellis-Smith got his first and well deserved try for Lydney to secure the bonus point and the match ended 51 -22. With two sides relegated Lydney are 8 points clear of the bottom three, Marlborough and Chew Valley their nearest challengers both lost so Lydney just need a win against bottom side Ivybridge in two weeks’ time to secure safety.
Director of Rugby Sam Arnott commented ‘We expected a tough game today; they boast a huge side and very rarely lose at home. The score was not pretty but we put in a good performance and again had three or four good scoring chances we should have taken. The players dug deep showed a good attitude which was rewarded with two tries in the last few minutes to get us a valuable bonus point. We have a week off now then face a massive game at Regentsholme against Ivybridge where a win will guarantee our place at this level next season.’
Lydney – Garrett Myers, Jack Knox, Rowan Mullis, Luke Hudson, Mike Massey, Kurt Brown, Kyle Frowen, Rielly Scriven, Tom Broady, Joe Hamlin, Ellis Deans-Smith, Ben Large©, Sam Harrison, Brad Dunn, Alex Nelmes. Replacements James Bayliss, Sam Baker, Henry Sleeman.
