FA Cup Preliminary Round

Brislington 4

Lydney Town 1

AN FA Cup tie at Brislington turned out to be a stiff test for Lydney.

Town manager Mark Lee shuffled his pack by bringing in Steve Warren in defence and Niall Halford up front. He also gave starts to himself and Danny Bishop.

The first 15 minutes were fairly even but a poor defensive clearance gave the home team an easy opening and Frank Gingell duly slotted.

Brislington grew in confidence and Dean Gifford made it 2-0 on 32 minutes.

Changes were made at half-time and Steve Warren and Tom Shaw, both struggling with injuries, were replaced by Glenn Stallard (pictured) and Matt Foxwell.

Mark Lee dropped into the back four, with Danny Bishop moving into midfield.

Lydney were punished again for slack marking when Byron Lismore found himself free at the back post at a 57th minute corner and hammered the ball home.

With nothing to lose, Lydney started to push men forward and a rare attack caught the home defence out.

A Brislington defender contrived to put the ball into his own net with Dan Bishop bearing down on goal.

Any thoughts of a comeback evaporated when Gingell powered home a header from a 74th minute free-kick.

In the 83rd minute Adam Price hit a tremendous shot from 25 yards which the keeper just managed to palm over the bar. From the resulting corner James Morse headed wide.

Again, the lack of a cutting edge in front of goal is giving rise to concerns at Lydney.

This, in turn, is putting pressure on the defence.

The return of Sam Elliott from holiday and Jonny Kear from his cricket commitments will hopefully bolster the squad.