A STRONG south westerly creating horizontal rain made playing conditions extremely challenging at Brixham, the home of The Fishermen but the game turned out a real thriller, writes Roger Pike.

The Severnsiders made a few changes due to unavailability and continuing injury issues.

Captain Jack Spencer started with Rob White and Gareth Winter in the front row, James Walter returned to partner Mike Massey in the second row with Hudson, Downer and Fowke formed a very mobile back row.

In the backs Lydney welcomed new signing Sami Hamid from Bristol Bears on the wing while Henry Sleeman moved into centre to partner Jake Hanley.

The game proved a tight affair with numerous errors being caused by the conditions.

The Severnsiders took their chances early on and an away win looked possible but leaking 17 points without reply around half time saw Brixham reel in the Severnsiders to win a close contest.

Brixham started with a big, well-drilled forward pack and dominated in the opening quarter, but a solid Lydney defence saw them limited to just a penalty kick by Mitch Pinkus for a 3-0 lead.

The hosts tried to run with the ball but, in the conditions, gave away possession with a number of dropped passes.

Some good kicking from Brad Barnes, using the wind, regularly pinned the hosts back in their own half and the Severnsiders created some good chances.

The forwards gained some good field position driving up field.

When Walters and Spencer were halted short, it was Jordan Fowke who managed to squeeze through a tackle for 3-5 after half an hour.

The hosts were putting major pressure on the Lydney scrum which often struggled in the conditions.

Although they were creating chances, handling errors were proving costly.

When Dunn made a good break into the Brixham half, the visitors got a penalty,

Barnes opted to kick with the wind assistance and stretched the lead to 3 – 8.

The hosts responded strongly and were soon deep in the Lydney 22m area when another dropped pass saw the Severnsiders break out.

Henry Sleeman charged downfield well supported by Hanley and kicked the ball downfield.

With then hosts not collecting the ball cleanly, Sami Hamid touched down for a debut try.

Barnes added the extras and the Severnsiders were 3-15 close on half-time.

Brixham regathered the ball at the restart and Jordan Watson scored following a missed tackle,

Pinkus added the conversion for 10 -15 at the break.

Brixham were out of the blocks at the restart and scored almost immediately when substitute Nathan Reeves crossed, Pinkus again converted and Lydney were behind at 17-15.

When another Brixham attack ended in a penalty, Pinkus knocked over the kick to extend the lead to 20-15 with 30 minutes left.

The Severnsiders’ solid defence continued with Downer, Hudson and Fowke superb in the loose.

In the backs, Sleeman and Hanley were solid and Alex Nelmes was having a fine game at full back.

Playing with the wind the hosts opted for high kicks but Nelmes, Hamid and Dunn were fielding them with ease in the difficult conditions.

The visitors were creating havoc for the hosts’ defence when running the ball back.

With the conditions getting worse scoring became difficult but the Severnsiders were still putting in some massive hits especially from Spencer and were still in the game with just 10 minutes left.

Still winning good line-out ball from Massey and with some strong drives from Walters they were twice close to the line but poor execution of the final ball kept them scoreless.

Despite some good late runs from Nelmes, Dunn and Hamid the Severnsiders ended with just a point from the final score of 20 -15.

Director of Rugby Sam Arnott said: “A frustrating day to go down by just a single score but 17 unanswered points around half-time proved decisive.

“However, some real positives in defence, we soaked up pressure put our tackles in and executed a good game plan given the conditions.

“Importantly we kept going, looked strong and had two great chances to win it at the end.

“With better decision-making we could have run out winners.

“Our young side will learn from this and we will become stronger as the season progresses.”

Lydney: Gareth Winter, Rob White, Jack Spencer (capt), Mike Massey, James Walter, Luke Hudson, Liam Downer, Jordan Fowke, Josh Hughes, Brad Barnes, Brad Dunn, Henry Sleeman, Jake Hanley, Sami Hamid, Alex Nelmes.

Replacements: James Baylis, Jake Bonser, Tom Broady