CLUB captain Jim McMahon believes Lydney need to recruit players for key positions in the New Year.

Lydney lost 13-12 at home to Taunton on Saturday and McMahon was sent off in the second half for kicking a Taunton player who was on the floor.

He said: "I thought it was harsh, I just came through to kick the ball.

"I don't like blaming referees but I think he cost us the game. He penalised us for being the dominant scrum throughout the match because he said we were moving from our mark. His decisions at the tackle area were just a mystery.

"When he sin-binned Nick Selway in the first half I told him he was going to spoil the game.

"We are very disappointed to lose that game because we felt we were the better side."

McMahon says that injuries to key backs such as Brett Turner, Chris Holder and Craig Jones are now hurting the club.

Jones added to Lydney's injury woes last week by dropping a weights bar and breaking his foot.

McMahon said: "I honestly feel we would have three more wins under our belts if we had Brett at 10.

"Josh (Innes) is a very talented young player but he's only 17, we can't expect him to carry us. There's no substitute for experience.

"Will Kane is playing at scrum-half but he'd be the first to admit that he's really a winger. Personally, I think we need to recruit.

"You can't fault anyone for effort and no one has dominated us up front, but we need to do better at home.

"In the New Year a lot of the teams we've beaten away will be coming to Lydney so we will be looking for a lot more home wins."