Lydney storm to huge win
Report and Pictures by Roger Pike
Lydney 42 Bridgewater & Albion 0

Despite Storm Dennis approaching a bumper crowd turned out at Regentsholme to see Lydney put in a totally dominant performance against a team just two places below them in the league. This was a must win game for Lydney to continue with their promotion push and Severnsiders did not disappoint. With conditions forecast only to worsen the match kicked off 30 minutes early with the Severnsiders starting much the brighter. Recapturing the ball from a Bridgewater error saw some good forward drives and the recycled ball fell to Tony Wicks to touch down after just two minutes of play. Playing in gale force wind and now driving rain both sides started to make numerous errors but Lydney were managing the game much the better and were camped in the Albion half. Just inside their own half Albion dropped the ball only to see centre Joe McClean regather, beating two tackles he ran in unopposed. Wicks knocked over the extras and the Severnsiders were now 12 – 0 after only eight minutes. The game became scrappy in the next 20 minutes with numerous restarts for dropped passes however the Severnsiders were handling the conditions much the better with Albion only having a few visits to the Severnsiders half. On 29 minutes another lose pass falls to centre Joe Hamlin who outpaced the defence to score, Wicks added the conversion for 19 – 0. The Severnsiders were unlucky not to increase their lead from a rampaging Ryan Watling run however the official blew up for crossing. The Lydney pack were on top at scrum time dominating the opposition, some good driving runs from loose forward Riley Scriven was always making good ground. Right on half time a scrum on the Albion 10m line disintegrated and the resulting forward drive gave an easy opportunity for Matty Williams to skip over for 24 – 0 at half time
Playing down the slope in the second half the Severnsiders were soon deep in the Albion half, trying to play out of their own 22m Albion drop the ball when an easy clearance kick was available. From the resulting scrum the Lydney pack drive over and Matty Williams touched down for his second try. More Lydney pressure saw them with a penalty 5m out, the scrum option was easily driven over and Ryan Watling touched down at the base of the scrum. Wicks added a good conversion to extend the Severnsiders to 35 – 0 after 55 minutes. With the elements now worsening the game became difficult, heavy driving rain was now causing huge puddles around the pitch. The Severnsiders were still controlling the game and making fewer mistakes and looked dangerous every time they had possession. On 60 minutes centre Joe McClean who the away team could just not handle had a superb game in attack and also marshalling the defence won a penalty. The ball is quickly tapped and some good forward drives sees play deep into the Albion half, substitute flanker Harry Brown runs a good line to cut through some big Albion forwards to dive over under the posts, Wicks added the extras for 42 – 0. Having now played over 60 minutes to constitute a result, with the conditions getting worse and player safety a concern the Official took the correct decision to abandon the game early.
Coach Lee Fortey commented ‘really delighted especially with our first shut out, firstly you have to give both sides, coaches and the officials credit for agreeing to play the match in very difficult conditions. I thought we managed the conditions much the better and were never really under any pressure especially in our own half. Pleased with every player’s performance, some good decision making kept us playing the game in the opposition half which is where you need to be on a day like this. Given the pitch conditions on the hour mark and the heavy rain falling it was the correct decision to halt matters but I am sure the crowd have been well entertained. We travel to leaders Chew Valley next which will be a stern test and a key game for the promotion positions’

The Futures Bright at Regentsholme

Despite Storm Dennis approaching Lydney RFC managed to field 3 sides on a very wet and windy Saturday. The Lydney 3rd IV played on a very sodden Recreation ground; incredibly they had lots of players wanting to give it a go. Fielding a mixture of older and even older 1st Team players combined with some youngsters from the U 18’s proved an excellent balanced side. Despite the conditions they played some super rugby to win 22 – 5.

With the 1st IV challenging for promotion, a second IV virtually unbeaten, numerous very strong youth & junior sides and not forgetting our newly formed Ladies team the future is looking bright at Regentsholme.