‘Lydney endure a tough week.’
Report and Pictures by Roger Pike
Lydney 27 Exmouth 32
With the pitch and Clubhouse totally flooded on Sunday following Storm Bert, volunteers and local business came together for a herculean effort to get the match on writes Roger Pike. Thanks to good drainage the pitch area was clear by Wednesday, ongoing during the week the Clubhouse was cleaned, boilers repaired and with electricity back on that enabled the Bledisloe club to host top of the table Exmouth to Regentsholme. Having lost just one game all season the table toppers would make it a challenging afternoon for the home side and so it proved with the visitors taking their chances to manage out the win.
Exmouth playing down the slope dominated the opening encounters against a stern home defence, following a penalty the visitors kicked to the corner, winning the line the huge pack drove over to score, with the heavy conditions it made defence virtually impossible, Charlie Gibbings touched down for 0 – 5. The hosts responded well and had some good possession with good breaks from Ty Lewis and Ben Large in particular. Following excellent work from Scriven, Henry Sleeman crashed through but was stopped just short, recycled ball fed out saw Louis Jayne get a score out wide. Jake Hanley continued his excellent form to add the extras for 7 – 5. The home side were playing well against a big opposition pack, winning a penalty on halfway Hanley kicked for 10 -5. As expected, the table toppers responded when Lydney did not deal with the restart and Lewis Geran scored, Meadows adding the conversion they had the lead back 10 -12. A further try followed when a good Lydney attack saw a pass intercepted for Fin Marks to run the length of the pitch unchallenged, with the conversion added 10 – 19. An exchange of penalty kicks before halftime saw a score of 13 – 22 at the break.
Lydney started the second period strongly with some good drives from Knox and the very impressive Hanslow. Starting to look like adding to their score the hosts make a mistake to lose the ball and Exmouth were again clinical with Nick Headly scoring 13 – 27. With Broady injured Drew Roberts came on for his first game this season at scrum half and did well in an unfamiliar position. With the hosts back on the attack this time they made no mistake, winning a line out they drove for the line, a solid Exmouth defence was breeched when James Bayliss crossed, again Hanley was on target 20 – 27 and game on. Emptying the bench Mullis and Baker came on making a good impact to keep the intensity of play. Hanslow and Hudson were taking some good line out ball to secure possession, with Hanslow securing some good visitor’s ball. The hosts then suffered a yellow card for Harrison trying to intercept a pass. With a scrum on the 5m line given the conditions the visitors were able to drive over for 20 -32 and the home side were now chasing a score to get something from the game. Some impressive performances from the returning Kyle Frowen, Hanslow, Hudson and Scriven in the forwards kept them going. Taking a few quick tap penalties in injury time Jack Knox crossed out wide, Hanley added the extras to end the match 27 -32. The hosts will feel disappointed having not yet got a result against the top four sides but can take some huge positives as have always been competitive and wins will surely come to get them back into the mix.
Director of Rugby Sam Arnott commented ‘Firstly a huge thank you from the players and staff to all the Volunteers and local Business who have put in an exceptional effort to get the game on today. The team showed a superb attitude today and put in a good display dominating a large part, however the game was decided by a couple of soft scores we gave them. We still have injured players plus players having to play with injuries or out of position so to perform this well is a real positive. We move on next week away at Ivybridge where we need to get back to winning ways.’
Lydney – Garrett Myers, Jack Knox, James Bayliss, Louis Jayne, Pat Hanslow, Luke Hudson, Kyle Frowen, Rielly Scriven, Tom Broady, Jake Hanley, Henry Sleeman, Ben Large©, Sam Harrison, Ty Lewis, Alex Nelmes. Replacements Rowan Mullis, Sam Baker, Drew Roberts.
