NATIONAL THREE SOUTH Barking 18 Lydney 40 Barking chose the first game of the new year to produce what was probably their worst 40 minutes of rugby this season as they were brushed aside by a Lydney side who had been slipping towards the relegation zone

NATIONAL THREE SOUTH

Barking 18 Lydney 40

Barking chose the first game of the new year to produce what was probably their worst 40 minutes of rugby this season as they were brushed aside by a Lydney side who had been slipping towards the relegation zone themselves, writes MARTIN DUTT.

The game was all over as a contest by half time as Lydney swept into a 35-13 lead against a frequently disorganised defence.

Napping

The first try came after 51 seconds, as a deep kick-off by Mark Davies caught Barking napping.

The home side were forced back to their own line where they dropped the ball and after two quick rucks, the ball was swept to Chris Holder who beat the tackle to score, Davies adding the conversion.

Five minutes later, a 30-yard penalty from Davies made it 10-0, before Barking finally launched an attack of their own, as Lydney were caught offside in front of their posts and Scott Shaw slotted over a simple penalty.

Davies restored the 10-point lead with his second penalty of the afternoon and completed a hat-trick of penalties on 17 minutes to give his side a comfortable 16-3 advantage.

Barking showed that they could be dangerous when forwards and backs combined to set up a try in the corner for exciting youngster David Vincent, but the conversion was missed and Lydney responded immediately when Craig Jones crossed on 23 minutes, Davies again converting.

Barking scored once more on the half hour as Vincent made ground down the left hand touchline to give the scoring pass to Filli Leota.

Once again the visitors hit back straight away with two tries from Charlie Vine, the second coming from a pinpoint cross kick from man-of-the-match Davies, which he converted for a 35-13 lead at the break, with the four-try bonus point in the bag.

It was a very different Barking side after the interval as they scored with just 30 seconds on the clock.

Dean Cadby turned over possession from the kick off, setting up second row Dan Collier to gallop past three tackles for the try, before replacement outside half Harry Owens put a comparatively simple kick wide.

For the next 15 minutes it was virtually all Barking as they went in search of their fourth try, but the Lydney defence held firm, and the hosts' best chance came from an Owens chip into the corner, but the chasing players got in each other's way.

Slowly, Lydney eased themselves back into the game, but it took them until four minutes from time to add to their score when a break from Lee Thomas set up Ben Slatter for his team's fifth try.

Davies missed the kick, but for Barking the result was a disaster, although the pain was slightly alleviated with the news that none of the other bottom sides had won either.

n There was one piece of bright news as the second team began their quest for a hat-trick of Essex 2nd XV Cup titles with a 101-0 victory against Brentwood in the quarter final.