National Two South

Redruth 31

THERE wasn't even the consolation of a losing bonus point as Lydney's valiant second half showing counted for nothing.

In truth, they found themselves with too much to do after a below-par first half left them trailing 18-3.

"We're our own worst enemies at times," said hooker Ben Lewis.

"Normally we start well, but we can't give a side like Redruth a head start. We did well to score 20 second half points but we need to learn how to win.

"We're second from bottom, but we could easily have got eight or nine points from the past three games and be mid-table."

Ashley Hosking booted a 40m penalty in the first minute for the visitors, but Curtis Russell levelled when the Reds failed to roll away from a tackle.

The division's top try scorer Tom Duncan burst through Lydney's defence in the 10th minute.

When a Parsons kick was fumbled by the home defence Lewis Vinnicombe was left with a simple touchdown that Hosking converted.

In first half injury time Lydney replacement Dan Allison was yellow carded for a check on Parsons and Hosking slotted the penalty.

Early in the second half Vinni-

combe touched down wide out for Redruth.

When Hosking put Parsons through a big gap it looked like it was game over.

Referee Walker also lost patience with Lydney's repeated infringements at the breakdown and sent skipper Matt Taylor to the sin-bin.

Neither side seemed particularly happy with the ref, who remained locked away with an assessor after the game.

Despite being down to 13 men, Lydney winger Alex Hall intercepted a loose ball and ran 40m to the line for an unconverted try.

After Redruth's Owen Hambly was shown a yellow card following an offside decision at a scrum, Lydney rocked the visitors with two tries inside a couple of minutes.

Jim McMahon finished off a good driving move from the pack, then a penalty-try was awarded following an obstruction.

Wicks also kicked a penalty as Lydney, with their tails up, did most of the pressing.

However, Hosking settled his side's nerves – and robbed Lydney of the bonus point – by kicking a penalty from the 22m line after Lydney killed the ball.

Lydney: Tony Wicks, Shaun Bartlett, Chris Holder, Josh Innes, Morgan Goodall (rep Alex Hall 21), Curtis Russell, Jason Graham (Sam Fisher 30), Sam Winchcombe, Ben Lewis (Jim McMahon 60), Andy Jarrett (Dan Allison 33), James Connors (Ben Taylor 60), Dave Bennett, Matt Taylor (capt), James Tyas.