National Two South

Taunton Titans 25

DUNCAN Bell says he has never blamed a referee for a defeat in his career.

However, the Lydney player/coach was finding it hard to bite his lip after his side lost another game they arguably deserved to win.

Former Lydney player Brett Turner struck the winning 76th minute conversion for Taunton, who battled back from 23-10 down with 12 minutes to go to snatch victory.

However, Bell says his side should have been awarded a penalty straight from the restart, saying: "They knocked on the restart then a guy standing 5m in front dived on the ball. It was the most ridiculously obvious penalty you'll ever see, right in front of the posts. However, the referee copped out. It's hard to swallow."

At the death, Tony Wicks did have a chance to win the game with a difficult kick from wide out, but he missed.

Lydney led 10-0 with a try by Duncan Bell and a conversion and penalty from Wicks.

Taunton hit back to 10-10 by the break with a Taylor-Menzies try and a conversion and penalty from Turner.

A Matt Taylor try plus a conversion and two penalties from Wicks gave Lydney their hefty 13 point advantage. However, Tony Yapp and Connor Hartley grabbed late tries for the home side, with Turner's late conversion proving decisive.

See This week's Forester for more Duncan Bell reaction