LYDNEY secured their first Regional One South West victory of the season with an impressive 35-22 win away at Sidmouth, writes Roger Pike.

Director of rugby Paul Morris made several changes with Jake Hanley starting at full-back and Charlie Beddis returning among the replacements alongside Harvey Heaven, Wilf Doyle-Finch and Rowan Mullis.

The visitors struck first when Brad Dunn made ground towards the home side's 22 before Will Green broke through to score, converted by Hanley.

The hosts responded with two tries for 12-7.

Lydney regained the initiative when George Gladding broke through and released centre Jesse Ribeiro, who raced beneath the posts.

Hanley converted before adding a penalty and another three-pointer made it 15-20 at half-time.

The visitors increasingly controlled proceedings after the restart, with Hanley's exceptional tactical kicking repeatedly forcing Sidmouth deep into their own territory.

Lydney's forwards also impressed, particularly Alex Seville, Morgan French and Jack Cuthbert, although several promising opportunities went unfinished as the visitors struggled to convert pressure into points.

Beddis looked dangerous in midfield and narrowly missed collecting a kick through as Lydney continued to threaten.

Hanley eventually extended the advantage with another penalty, putting the visitors eight points clear with 15 minutes remaining.

Sidmouth attempted to respond, but determined defence from Heaven and Doyle-Finch repeatedly frustrated the home side.

Lydney scored another try when Sidmouth dropped possession and Doyle-Finch gathered the loose ball before beating two defenders to cross, converted by Hanley for 15-30.

A converted try with five minutes left made it 22-30 and with Sidmouth pressing again Doyle-Finch produced important tackles and won a turnover penalty to relieve the pressure.

Hanley kicked towards the corner, where French helped establish a driving maul which allowed Jack Knox to touch down and complete the victory at the expense of five injuries.