‘Lydney win with Hanley masterclass.’
Report and Pictures by Roger Pike
Chew Valley 27 Lydney 28
Lydney faced bottom of the table Chew Valley who are fighting for survival but always provide tough opposition on their home patch writes Roger Pike. Lydney always looked the better side and controlled the game but a lapse in the second half let the hosts back in and gave the supporters an extremely nervous last ten minutes. However, the superb Jake Hanley with a 23-point tally from the boot and a well worked try from Garrett Myers ensured the visitors got a deserved win. Lydney again had a few changes with McGurk, Mullis, Barnes and Frowen still injured, Mike Massey unavailable for selection resulted in James Bonia and Jack Knox starting with the returning Hanley. A new bench contained debuts for Jayden Meade and Ty Lewis from Hartpury plus prop James Bayliss who is back following a spell in New Zealand.
Lydney dominated from the kick off winning a penalty Hanley slotted for 0 – 3. Another penalty soon followed and again Hanley was on target for 0 – 6. Chew did get a penalty themselves from the restart and Chapman got them on the scoreboard 3 – 6. A superb Hanley clearance kick got the visitors down into the 22m area, some good breaks from Harrison, Sleeman and Scriven keep them deep in the scoring zone, but a dropped pass allowed the hosts to escape. On the attack Chew looked dangerous, when Alex Nelmes received a yellow card the visitors 14 men rallied to keep the hosts out. A penalty soon followed for Chapman to slot 6 -9. The game become open but both sides made mistakes to stop any further try scoring opportunities. Chew under pressure started to concede numerous penalties and get a yellow card themselves. Jack Knox, Hudson and Jayne were lively in open play keeping the hosts under pressure at the breakdown. Hanley again slotted a long-range penalty kick for 6 – 12. The hosts then had a good spell putting the visitors under pressure, when Hanslow was given a yellow for a knock-on interception attempt they kicked to the corner. Failing to execute their attack Lydney escaped with a good Harrison break. Winning a penalty kick on halftime they opted to kick to the corner, with Jayne taking a good lineout catch Scriven drove on offloading in the tackle to Garrett Myers who powered through the last defender to touch down in the corner. Hanley added the touchline kick for 6 -19 lead at the break.
Lydney came out strongly winning a penalty on halfway, Hanley decided for the long-range kick and slotted a superb effort to extend the lead 6 -22. The hosts did respond but a solid defence with Hudson, Knox and Scriven putting in some solid tackles. Lydney rotated their bench with props Meade and Bayliss keeping the scrum solid. A superb opportunist break from Broady saw him go from halfway deep into the 22m area but the support dropped the ball and the host’s escaped. Back on the attack Chew win a penalty and a quick tap catches the Lydney defence napping, Marcus Brooker crossed for an easy score with Chapman again adding the extras they were back in the game 13 – 22. With the game even the last 20 minutes turned into a nervous affair when the hosts scored again to get within two at 20 -22. Winning another penalty from the restart Hanley again slotted for 20 – 25. Lydney then started to get some control back with Hanslow, Knox, Scriven and Baker outstanding in the pack. Winning yet another penalty Hanley maintained his 100% record for 20 – 28 and the visitors had some breathing space two score clear. However, when Chew scored again, and Chapman converted deep into injury time for 27 – 28 a nervous last couple of minutes followed but the Bledisloe club held out for the deserved win.
Director of Rugby Sam Arnott commented ‘Not pretty but we needed the win, they are a better team than their league position suggests. We were much improved since last week and controlled the game however a bit of indiscipline cost us when two scores clear and left a nervous last 10 but a professional performance away from home and job done. We have a week’s break now before a tough challenge at Regentsholme facing top of the table Exmouth.’
Lydney – Garrett Myers, Sam Baker, James Bonia, Louis Jayne, Pat Hanslow, Luke Hudson, Jack Knox, Rielly Scriven, Tom Broady, Jake Hanley, Henry Sleeman, Ben Large©, Sam Harrison, Brad Dunn, Alex Nelmes. Replacements Jayden Meade, James Bayliss, Ty Lewis.
