on the net By Stuart Amos Richmond director of rugby Geoff Richards is not worried about the National League Two South table despite four straight defeats pushing his side towards the drop zone.

Richards’s men slipped to a 21-20 defeat to mid-table Lydney on Saturday to leave them one point above the relegation zone as the half-way stage of the campaign approaches.

The Athletic Ground outfit found themselves in a similar position last season, but produced a barnstorming second-half of the season to eventually finish fourth.

And Richards insists only focusing on his side’s performances - and in particular their defensive efforts - will get them out of their current tail spin.

“The league doesn’t really matter to me. You are where you are,” he said.

“We’ve leaked a lot of easy points this season and that is something we have to address.

“We’ve got to keep concentrating on our performances.

“The last three results have been very disappointing, but if we get our performance levels right the league will look after itself, I’m confident of that.

“It has been a bad run, but no-one is down here and I’m always optimistic about the talent we have.”

Richmond have the third worst defensive record in the division and three mistakes cost them dear as Lydney converted all three opportunities to sneak the win, despite tries from Richmond’s Jason Phipps and Jonny Wehbe.

Full-back Matt Hart missed two late penalty kicks that would have won his side the game, but Richards takes his side to league leaders Barking on Saturday knows where the real issues are.

“It is pretty clear where the problems are and we have to address that. We’ve had no problems getting points on the board ourselves,” he added.

“They had three chances and took them. We had about ten and scored only twice. We need to be more precise going forward and tighter in defence.

“There was a bit more passion at the weekend. The boys desperately want to do well, but it is just not quite clicking.”

Richmond’s next three games: Dec 12 Barking (a), 19 Canterbury (h), Jan 2 Ealing (a).