Another long trip down into Devon saw Lydney face a tough task against league leaders Devonport Services, writes Roger Pike.

After a week of storms the hosts’ pitch was unplayable, forcing the fixture to be switched to an artificial surface in Devonport.

Injuries continued to plague Lydney’s small squad, leaving Sam Arnott to reshuffle again. Jack Knox started at hooker, Tom Broady returned at scrum-half and Aaron Esiri made his debut on the wing, while Danny Hodge once more led the side.

Despite the unfamiliar surface and a much-changed team, Lydney showed good spirit in the first half and, despite struggling for scrum and lineout ball, trailed by only seven points at the break. A poor second half, however, allowed the league leaders to take control and run out deserved winners.

Lydney made the best possible start when Charlie Beddis kicked a penalty after just two minutes, but the lead was short-lived as Sam Brown replied to level the scores. Another Beddis attempt drifted narrowly wide following a high tackle, while new signing Esiri looked lively with a couple of strong early runs.

Devonport soon began to dominate possession, though resolute defending from Harvey Heaven, Danny Price and Kyle Frowen kept the score down despite Lydney’s set-piece problems.

With scrum and lineout ball hard to come by, the hosts were gifted possession and eventually made it count when Charlie Groves finished a slick backs move in the corner.

The pressure continued and Brown crossed out wide to extend the lead. A well-judged cross-field kick from Goldsby-West was then collected by Toby Knowles, the conversion stretching the score to 20–3 and threatening to turn the game into a long afternoon for the visitors.

Lydney responded well. A strong carry from Knox was recycled and Beddis produced a superb break, cutting clean through the defence to score in the corner. The visitors were not finished there and, following a sharp break from Esiri, the ball was moved quickly across field where Tom Rowe showed real class to beat three defenders and score out wide, reducing the deficit to 20–13 at half-time.

The visitors started the second half brightly, with Esiri and Rowe again causing problems and creating scoring chances that went unfinished.

Strong forward work earned a penalty which Beddis converted to close the gap to four points. However, continued lineout difficulties handed possession back to Devonport and, despite excellent last-ditch tackles, the hosts crossed to make it 25–16.

Chasing the game, Lydney were punished for an error in attack as another cross-field kick sent Knowles in for his second try. With yellow cards shown to both sides and further disruption to the visitors, Devonport extended their lead with a penalty before finishing strongly with a late try to complete a 40–16 victory.

Director of Rugby Sam Arnott said: “It was a tough afternoon against a top side. The lineout and scrum were poor, but we stuck at it and were just four points down early in the second half. A couple of missed opportunities cost us and then a poor 30 minutes killed the game. The final score didn’t fairly reflect our efforts. We’re back in Devon next week against Sidmouth, so another tough test awaits.”