National Two South

Lydney 24

Southend 22

BATTLING Lydney came back from 15-3 down to secure an important victory over their basement rivals.

Southend have been on a recruitment drive in a bid to get themselves out of trouble, with ex-Cinderford and Lydney scrum-half Sam Arnott one of their recent acquisitions.

The visitors opened up a sizeable lead with some enterprising rugby, but the home side showed tremendous character to peg them back.

Danny Trigg slotted an opening penalty, but two Southend tries in as many minutes from Todd Bailey and Mark Billings stunned the home crowd. When Arnott dropped a 15th minute goal Lydney found themselves with a mountain to climb.

Trigg kicked a second penalty, then winger Josh Hannam brought the game to life with his first try for Lydney since returning from Cinderford.

He won the race to his own kick, despite Arnott's attempts to stop him.

Trigg missed the conversion, but added a third penalty to leave his side buoyed at the interval, trailing just 15-14.

The home side dominated much of the second period.

Southend defended manfully, but cracks were starting to appear as Trigg kicked his fourth penalty and Alan Barker was yellow carded for persistent offences at the breakdown.

The killer blow came while Barker was in the sin-bin – Dave Bennett showing his cricketing skills to pluck a high pass from the sky and stride through a gap to touch down. Trigg's conversion made it 24-15 with 11 minutes to play.

Lydney let a bonus point slip from their grasp by conceding a converted try from the final play of the game.

Southend rarely threatened Lydney's line in the second half but McLintock's score, converted by Frost, at least gave them some consolation on the long journey home.

Lydney: Tony Wicks, Josh Hannam, Chris Holder, Josh Innes, Tai Lacabuka (Danny Chui 50), Danny Trigg, Jason Graham, Paul Price (Adam Ledner 62), Jake Fields (Ben Lewis 50), Sam Winchcombe, Charlie Daniell, Dave Bennett, Tim Longton, Will Jones, Matt Taylor (capt). Reps not used: Ben Taylor, Jim McMahon.