Clifton's good form comes to an abrupt halt

After several weeks where are levels of performance have been improving we came back to earth with this unexpected result over our Severnside rivals Lydney.

Our visitors came into this game flirting with the threat of relegation and this result pushed them clear of the bottom two clubs.

We dominated possession for long periods showing plenty of effort and enthusiasm but were unable to reproduce the form we had shown in recent weeks.

On the day we were not helped as by the end of the first quarter we had lost Charlie Foley and Jordan Kelly with leg injuries and were without Sam Harrison for a few minutes will he had a head wound attended to.

The loss of two backs meant a major reorganisation outside the scrum with debutant Marc Koteczk slipping in at full back and Fergus Manners moving from the back row to the wing with Louis Wolf coming off the bench.

It took time for the new look line up to settle.

Foley gave us the lead with a penalty just after the departure of Kelly.

Lydney took the lead when they exposed a weakness on the wide outside which enabled centre John Rodgers to cross for a try and our former Clifton fly half Brad Barnes adding the extras.

We had more possession but Lydney were a fret through their back row in which No 8 Matt Boobyer was outstanding.

Lydney scored again just before the break when they again exposed the left flank and winger Mark Harrison crossed at the corner.

We looked a different side at the start of the second half and it came as no surprise when centre Dan Wells cut through the defence to score under the posts with fly half James Mackay converting.

The crucial score came when we stopped Lydney just short of the line on a couple of occasions and then following a conversation between the referee and his assistant winger Josh Hannan was awarded a try which Barnes converted.

We territorially dominated the remainder of the game but showing great discipline the defensive efforts of our visitors were sufficient to keep us at bay.

Next week the reverse fixture will be played at Regentsholme and we will be seeking revenge.