LYDNEY team manager Dave Emery bemoaned questionable refereeing decisions that he believes ’changed the flow of the game’ in his side’s 29-15 loss at Brixham.

Lydney pulled back a seven-point deficit by half-time to go into the break 10-8 down thanks to a penalty from Ollie Locke and an unconverted try scored by Angus Southon.

And it was a controversial offside decision made against Southon that Emery highlighted as being a turning point midway through the second half.

“I’m not one to have a go at referees but there were certainly decisions on Saturday that we felt hard done by with,” he said.

“We looked like being 10-3 down at half-time but we got back to 10-8 and although I wouldn’t say we were confident of winning necessarily, I did say to the boys that the hard part was done.

“The conditions didn’t help because in the first half we were kicking the ball and it was going backwards over our heads and Brixham are used to those situations and conditions as the home team.

“It got to 24-15 with another try from Josh Dunne, converted by Ollie Locke, and they were on our line looking for another score.

“But Angust Southon intercepts a pass and runs in 40m before the referee rules him offside, and they go and score again. It took the wind out of our sails.

“I’m not saying we’d have gone on to win it if the referee doesn’t make that decision but we’d have been two points behind with 10 minutes left and our tails would have been up.

“The home crowd were very vocal. One of the things about this level is that there are no touch judges and so it’s hard for referees because they have to do it all.

“That being said, we still have to look at ourselves and change what we’re doing wrong. We need to pick some of the basics up.”