LYDNEY team manager Colin Henderson believes the club is reaping huge dividends from cutting costs and promoting homegrown players.

Big debts forced Lydney to make reductions to its playing budget back in 2008/09.

Added to that, the club lost a string of established first-team players at the start of this season, such as skipper Paul Kiely, Paul Price, Dean Jenkins and Steve Price.

Henderson told The Forester: "I wouldn't try and hoodwink people by saying we're out of the woods financially, but I would say the debts are now manageable.

"There were lots of issues that led to those debts arising and different people will cite different reasons.

"It's not job done, it's work in progress.

"We've still got debts, there's no dispute, but through the hard work of people such as Alan Edwards, Chris Wathen and John Nelmes they are under control."

Henderson believes the players and coaching staff also deserve massive credit for what they've achieved on the pitch this year.

He said: "I sat down with the coaches (Nick Bartlett, Paul Morris and Nick Nelmes) before the start of the season and we thought if we got 40 points we'd be safe.

"Some people thought we wouldn't be able to compete at this level, but here we are with 43 points in January. It's our best position for years.

"People like Paul Price and Paul Kiely were fantastic players who gave their best years to Lydney, no doubt about it. No one is saying the lads who have come in are better than them.

"However, the likes of Tim Longton, Nick Stoneman, Dave Bennett and Leigh Green have done great jobs and will only get better.

"Some people say National Three has got easier, but I think it keeps getting harder every year.

"It stands to reason that if the top divisions keep getting better, so do the ones below them."

Henderson says Lydney's resurgence should not just be viewed on results and the strength of the first XV squad.

He added: "Diane Emery is back with the club and driving things forward off the pitch, the second XV is stronger than it's been for years, and the youth set-up is good. Ideally, we'd like to start a colts team. Our gates have also gone up quite a lot – we had 800 at one match.

"We've got new floodlights going up soon, which will mean we can revert back to 3pm kick-offs.

"That should boost the crowds further."