By Lucy Beacham

REGIONAL ONE SOUTH WEST

Launceston 17 Lydney 20

LYDNEY’S Ricky Alley stuck the boot into Launceston as his last-gasp penalty ensured his side of a narrow 20-17 Regional One South West victory at Polson Bridge.

Having hauled his side level with a successful kick just minutes earlier, the fly-half hit the target once more – this time with the last kick of the game – to send the visitors home with the win.

It was a tough pill to swallow for the All Blacks, whose seasonal task will get no easier this Saturday when they tackle league leaders Devonport Services at The Rectory.

Ahead of kick-off, Ryan Westren’s side was bolstered with the inclusion of new signings George Hillson and Torin Clarke, and they started this encounter brightly as they took the lead early on when No.8 Ben Hancock powered his way through a number of tackles to claim the game’s opening try, which was converted by James Tucker.

Although conditions were tricky, both with ball in hand and underfoot, the home side continued to set the tone, extending their lead when the ball was worked wide to winger Ben Bryant, who forced his way through the visiting defence to score a second converted try.

With half time approaching and Lydney looking somewhat sluggish around the park, the All Blacks made their dominance tell even further, full-back Tucker extending their lead to 17 points at the turn with a penalty.

Seemingly in cruise control, the home side re-emerged for the second half looking to continue in much the same vein as they finished the first period. However, the concession of an early penalty allowed Lydney to position themselves deep into enemy territory.

The visitors used the resultant line-out to create the attacking platform from which they worked the ball into the hands of lock Jack Cuthbert, whose crashed his way over in the right-hand corner for the score, which Alley converted from wide on the touchline.

Back in the contest, Lydney looked to push on in pursuit of further reward. However, a yellow card for lock Danny Hodge somewhat hindered their progress.

It was the visitors who were looking the more threatening and they cut the deficit further when, on 74 minutes, they grabbed their second try of the day.

This time it was No.8 Patrick Hanslow who took the plaudits, emerging from a rolling maul with the acclaim of his team-mates.

Alley not only bagged the conversion, but then added a penalty just moments later to bring the scores level at 17-17 and silence the home supporters.

The drama, however, was far from over and with one final throw of the dice, the visitors threw caution to the wind, producing one final raid, which saw the All Blacks stray offside.

It was the chance they craved and with no time left and the whole pitch holding their breath, Alley duly stepped forward to drill his penalty between the posts and seal a fifth league win of the campaign for Lydney, who sit third in the standings behind Devonport Services and Topsham.

Launceston: J Tucker; B Martin, M Woods, B Rowley, B Bryant, T Sandercock (capt), G Hillson; C Short, L Bulut, L Hawken; C Baker, T Clarke; C Tummon, G Harris, B Hancock. Replacements: R Mead, A Bartlett, C Fogden.