National Two South

Lydney 12

Henley Hawks 33

HENLEY possessed too much pace and power behind the scrum for a hard-working Lydney side at Regentsholme.

The visitors threatened to run away with the game after dominating the first half, but the hosts came out strongly for the opening 20 minutes of the second half to temporarily make a game of it.

Henley's first try on eight minutes was the result of some slick handling between full-back Tom Allen and winger Chris Bart – the latter darting under the posts to leave James Comben with a simple conversion. Lydney huffed and puffed but struggled to get out of their own half as Henley tightened the screws.

Lydney's cause was not helped by the sin-binning of centre Danny Chui, who got 10 minutes on the sidelines for slapping down a pass, after previously being warned for a high tackle. From an attacking scrum, Henley moved the ball down the blindside and Tom Allen dotted down. Comben's conversion made it 14-0. Lydney did well to keep it to that at half-time as they didn't mount a serious attack until just before the break. Tai Lakabuka found himself one-on-one with his opposite number, but lost momentum by cutting inside.

Whatever was said in the Lydney dressing room at the interval had the desired effect because the Severnsiders looked like a different team in the second period.

The forwards led the charge to leave Henley rocking, cutting down space, bossing the scrums and forcing the visitors to kick possession away. Lydney camped on the Henley line and deservedly scored when Paul Scott broke from the back of a scrum and sprinted over. Tony Wicks converted.

Hopes of a comeback were soon quashed as Henley quickly regained their composure. Neil Baggett capitalised on a couple of missed tackles to put daylight between the teams and touch down.

Lydney skipper Jim McMahon was yellow carded for throwing a punch right in front of the ref and the game finished as it had begun – with Henley in total control.

Number eight Matt Payne brushed off tackles for his side's fourth try and Tom Allen rounded it all off with a fifth score in injury-time. In between, Lydney managed to grab a second try through winger Josh Hannam, after Craig Jones had picked open the Henley defence with a blindside run. It was a tough afternoon for Lydney who gave everything, but were always battling to stifle a talented Henley backs division.

Lydney: Tony Wicks, Joshn Hannam, Danny Chui (Ross Webb 61), Tai Lakabuka, Craig Jones (Jack O'Connell 73), Will Kane, Steve Price (Nick Stoneman 73), Ben Lewis, Nick Selway, Dave Bennett, James Bashford (Dave Emery 37), Jim McMahon (capt), Tim Longton (Liam Trigg 71), Paul Scott.