‘Lydney win absolute thriller.’
Report and Pictures by Roger Pike
Lydney 10 Brixham 7
Lydney faced a tough test at Regentsholme against one of the promotion favourites Brixham writes Roger Pike. Director of Rugby Sam Arnott made a few changes with three debutants, on loan Harry Delaney from Clifton started at outside half, Joe Byrne on the wing and in the replacements was scrum half Jake Powles. The game was to prove a real thriller for the large crowd, although Lydney scored two tries early on with some forward dominance the visitors are a top side and got back into the game to set up a thrilling last 15 minutes but it was the hosts who hung on with another top defensive display for a deserved win.
Brixham were out of the blocks and had a lively start playing in the hosts half. Playing with the slope Lydney soon got some ball and a good break from Ben Large got them down to the 22m line. The hosts started to win some penalties with the forwards on top at most scrums with Nick Selway leading the way. From another penalty numerous Lydney drives were stopped short by some great defence, Cuthbert, Selway, Hanslow and Bonia were all held up short. Winning another penalty the hosts opted to scrum, with a quick recycle Hanslow picked up and a deft pass to Tom Broady saw them open the scoring 5 – 0. Brixham responded immediately but the well organised defence nulled the moves. The game started to go end to end with both sides having chances towards halftime. With Cuthbert and Hodge winning some good lineout ball the hosts had plenty of opportunities. Another good Large break was offloaded to Dunn who was stopped just 10m short with a last-ditch tackle. Back on the attack they made no mistakes this time, a Henry Sleeman break was offloaded to Large who spun the ball out to Brad Dunn to score in the corner 10 – 0. Brixham responded as a top side would, but the defence was solid Luke Hudson was the silent assassin making some great tackles while Kyle Frowen gave another man of the match performance in attack and defence, the half-ended score unchanged.
Playing with the wind Lydney made a great start to the half, a Selway break saw him make a huge gain, the ball spun out to Dunn who was giving the opposition defence a nightmare every time he had the ball was denied a try by a foot in touch. Brixham get some possession but against the wind they made little progress to get out of their own half. Dunn was unlucky not to score again when the final pass was given as forward, and the visitors escaped. Getting a spell of possession the visitors started some good attacks as expected from a top side, from some sustained possession they scored out wide from Kai Kidd, the extras were added from Joe Ashworth 10 – 7 and game on. The visitors were rallied and putting in a huge effort, but the well organised defence was proving a fortress once again. Alfie Searls and Joe Byrne came on to give some vital new energy in the closing stages. Lydney did win a penalty, but the resulting kick was missed so pressure was still on in the final 10 minutes. Lydney then had a period of pressure themselves in the closing stages, winning numerous penalties in the Brixham 5m out. However, despite 4 penalties in a row from scrum time when it looked like they would drive over the official gave no decision. When a scuffle occurred a player from each side went to the bin and the resulting penalty saw the visitors escape downfield. Playing injury time that seemed an age for the nervous supporters Brixham were camped in the Lydney 22m area. Only some superb last man tackles kept them out, a turnover ball was penalised by the official and the visitors had a final chance, a quick tap saw them in for a certain try only to knock on and the final whistle went. So, a top performance from Lydney against one of the best teams in the league will give them real confidence with some more tough fixtures ahead. With many new players gaining some playing time now the future looks bright for this season, and they remain unbeaten after three matches.
Director of Rugby Sam Arnott commented ‘We had a good opening 30 minutes where our set piece and defence dominated but we did switch off close to halftime, however no damage done. As expected, they through the kitchen sink at us in the second half, apart from one score we absorbed everything they could offer. To absorb 15 phases of attack deep in injury time shows the character of the team. This will give us huge confidence going forward, we have a week off now before another huge challenge away at Chew Valley.’
Lydney – James Bonia, Nick Selway, Rowan Mullis, Danny Hodge, Jack Cuthbert, Luke Hudson, Kyle Frowen, Pat Hanslow, Tom Broady, Harry Delaney, Joe Byrne, Ben Large©, Henry Sleeman, Brad Dunn Alex Nelmes. Replacements Alfie Searles, Harvey Heaven, Jake Powles.
