Kevin Harman remained upbeat despite seeing his Southend side slip to a 28-10 National Division Three South defeat at high-flying Lydney on Saturday.

The director of rugby was far from happy with his side's previous outing, a 20-19 home win over Old Patesians, and had questioned his players' ability to perform at this level.

But the Seasiders' chief was in a much better mood after this trip to Gloucestershire, despite a fourth consecutive away reverse for his men.

"In the first 20 minutes we played our best rugby of the season so far," he said.

"But we made one silly effort and got punished for it.

"After the break we had another good 20 minute spell, but weren't able to convert the pressure in to points.

"However, I was much happier with the overall performance, which was a big improvement."