National Two South
Dings Crusaders 21
Lydney 20
SLOW starting Lydney turned this game on its head with a tremendous second-half comeback.
Trailing 15-3 at the interval, Lydney stormed back to lead 20-15.
However, two late penalties gave Dings victory by the narrowest of margins.
A Brett Turner penalty was all Lydney had to show for a lacklustre first-half.
They lost Craig Jones with a calf injury, reshuffling their back line by introducing Danny Chiu from the bench.
Powerhouse Chiu went on to have one of his best games in a Lydney shirt.
Dings scored two first-half tries through Tucker and Stevens, with Burton kicking a conversion and a penalty.
Lydney struck back early in the second period with centre Dougie Freeman charging down for a try.
Turner missed the conversion, but kicked three more penalties to put Lydney in the box seat. Tony Wicks also slotted a drop-goal.
Now dominating possession and territory, Lydney looked certain winners – but the loss of Lewis, following a head injury, meant Dings gained fresh impetus in the forwards battle.
Two more Burton penalties left Lydney with just a bonus point for their efforts.
Lydney: Tony Wicks, Chris Holder, Brett Turner, Dougie Freeman, Josh Hannam, Craig Jones, Lee Thomas, Nick Stoneman, Ben Lewis, Nick Selway, Dave Bennett, Jim McMahon, Tim Longton, Will Jones (capt), Matt Taylor. Reps; Danny Chiu, Paul Scott, James Bashford, Leigh Green, Stuart Doust.
LYDNEY United put a strong Cinderford United team to the test on Saturday before going down 18-15.