LYDNEY skipper Alex Gooding was top scorer for his side with 84 and then took six wickets as they won the Forest derby with Cinderford St John.

Visitors Cinderford made strong starts with both bat and ball but Lydney turned the game around decisively on an overcast day at the Bob Park Cricket Ground.

A much-changed Lydney side saw Jack Knox and Ross Howells come in as the leaders sought to put last week’s shock defeat at Great Rissington behind them.

Lydney won the toss and elected to bat but were soon in trouble with openers James Bishop and Knox going cheaply.

Jack Weaving and Mark House put the batsmen under pressure and each had a wicket to their name by the end of the seventh over.

Knox went to House in the sixth over, caught by Edward Ruck for two.

Eight balls later, in the seventh, Bishop went for 11, caught by Ryan Kibble off Weaving and Lydney were 20-2.

The bowlers continued to keep a grip on the run rate and the home side were  23-2 after 11 overs.

But Gooding and partner Jordan Stone were about to stamp their authority on the game with attacking stroke play Between them, Stone and Gooding would put on 110 for the third wicket.

Stone was caught for 57 by Sivathas Balasingham off the bowling of Weaving and Lydney had moved to 130-3.

The captain had already reached his half century when Alex Antoine came to the crease, adding a quick-fire 13.

Antoine went lbw to House to make it 168-4, the partnership with Gooding had made 19.

Gooding was on 57 when he was joined by Ed Jones.

The New Zealander contributed another 27 runs before his innings was ended by Ryan Kibble with Lydney 209-5.

The home side lost three more wickets in the final overs as they looked to add more runs to the total.

Weaving picked up his second wicket, bowling Ed Jones for nine and 216-6.

He again showed accuracy with the ball to run out Matthew Aldridge on 12 for 228-7.

The last wicket to fall was Ellis Boughton on four as Ruck took his second catch to make it two wickets for Balasingham.

He finished with figures of 2-37 with  House 2-18 and Weaving 2-34.

Cinderford needed a quick start to keep the pressure on Lydney and  openers Simon Gwynne and Edward Ruck duly delivered.

They could not have wished for a better first 10 overs, reaching 55, including a peppering of boundaries for both batsmen  before Ruck became the first wicket to fall with the score on 44.

He went for 16, lbw to Gooding, and the loss of signalled a change in the tempo of the Cinderford innings as the next 10 overs yielded only 28 runs and the loss of five wickets.

At the halfway point the visitors were  83-6.

Twelve had been added to the score when Richard Bywater went for a duck, caught by Matthew Aldridge.

Gwynne went soon after to leave St John at 57-3, the Gooding-Aldridge combo seeing him return to the pavilion for 22.

Siv Balasingham has a reputation as a big hitter but he went for three, bowled by Alex Antoine and the visitors were 60-4.

Jack Weaving went for six, caught by Callum Miller off Jordan Stone and Stone’s bowling also accounted for Josh Edwards.

Cinderford were in deep trouble at 66-6 but the pairing of Mark House and Ryan Kibble put them back on the right path.

The partnership almost doubled the score before Kibble was bowled by Jack Knox.

Kibble had contributed a patient nine runs but Cinderford were now 120-7.

Gooding’s fourth wicket was another important moment as he bowled House for 45 with Cinderford still 95 short of the target at 138-8.

Although House’s exit marked the realistic end of a revival,  the last three wickets added another 19 to the total.

The ninth wicket to fall was Dan Kibble, bowled by Gooding for 15 for 155-9.

It was, appropriately, Gooding who closed the innings, bowling Andrew Cotterell with the score on 157.

The not out batsman was Tim Yemm who had scored eight.

Lydney will be hoping that wicketkeeper Aldridge is fit for Saturday after leaving the field with a finger injury.

They have a tricky trip to Oxfordshire to face second-placed Langford who are currently 34 points behind the Forest side.

Cinderford are now seventh, just six points outside the relegation zone.

On Saturday they host promotion-chasing Redmarley who are just two points behind Langford.