National Two South

Lydney 12

AUSSIE referee Marcus Caton took centre stage as Lydney lost a game that was theirs for the taking.

Lydney had the upper hand in the forwards but continually fell foul of the referee, who penalised them at virtually every scrum – even though they were the team going forward.

Caton also red carded Lydney skipper Jim McMahon for kicking an opponent while he was on the ground.

He sin-binned prop Nick Selway in the first half for trying to remove Lydney old boy Nick Burnett from the wrong side of a ruck with his boot when the home side had the try-line in their sights. Burnett got a yellow card too, but his crime seemed so much more cynical.

This was a scrappy game between two nervous-looking teams.

Lydney made five knock-ons inside the first 15 minutes and also missed a string of tackles, but Taunton hardly hurt them with just a single Tony Yapp penalty.

A 20-man punch up and those yellow cards for Selway and Burnett at least warmed up the Christmas crowd of 532.

Lydney made a bright start to the second half with a Wicks touchfinder putting them firmly on the front foot. McMahon collected the line-out and the forwards turned the screw. Back-row Matt Taylor controlled the ball nicely before diving over for an unconverted try.

The dismissal of McMahon handed Taunton the initiative, yet they were reluctant to take it. True, it needed a tap tackle from Tony Wicks to prevent an interception try, but Lydney hung in the game with replacement lock James Bashford doing some great defensive work and giving Lydney extra bite in the close contact battles.

Bashford blotted his copybook by flying over the top of a ruck to let Yapp kick his second penalty.

Alan Bryan made a great counter-attacking break for the hosts but a poor pass to Josh Hannam squandered a possible try scoring opportunity.

Still Lydney conceded penalty after penalty as their frustrations grew. Four minutes from time Josh Hannam was thrown the ball with three defenders upon him.

Former Cinderford winger Reuben Haile pinched possession and sped down the blindside for an opportunistic try that Yapp converted.

At least Lydney had the consolation of a last-gasp touchdown from Nick Selway after more sterling work from their seven-man pack. Wicks converted from wide out.

A bonus point was hardly the Christmas present the supporters wanted, especially against distinctly average opposition.

Referee Caton shouldn't expect too many Christmas cards with a GL15 postcode!

Lydney: Tony Wicks, Josh Hannam, Ross Webb (Luke Kell 74), Alan Bryan, Tai Lakabuka, Josh Innes, Will Kane, Nick Stoneman (Steve Price 55), Ben Lewis, Nick Selway, Jim McMahon (capt), Lance Randell (rep James Bashford 55), Matt Taylor, Will Jones, Dave Emery (Ben Taylor 63). Rep not used: Jack O'Connell.