DAVID Jackson suffered a painful defeat, in more ways than one, after Southend Saxons were seen off 25-20 at relegation rivals Lydney in National Two South on Saturday.

The reverse saw the Saxons dragged to within four points of the bottom three.

And, to make matters worse for Jackson, he was also left needing dental treatment after suffering a nasty mouth injury.

“I copped a bit of a stiff arm to the mouth when I took the ball up,” said the 29-year-old back row.

“I didn’t really notice it until I was tackled and there was a fair bit of blood, but I just put the mouth guard back in and got on with it.

“After the game you could see my teeth were a bit bashed up so I had to go to the dentist yesterday.

“But hopefully I will be back on the field quickly as the team needs all hands on deck.”

Southend had been hoping to move further away from the relegation zone by securing a fourth successive win at Lydney.

However, they were unable to come out on top, despite the hosts playing the final 25 minutes with just 14 men.

And Jackson feels the heat is now right back on Saxons.

“The pressure is certainly back on us, but in all honesty it’s probably been there all month and will continue until the end of the season,” he said.

“We have had a good month with some strong wins and we are close as a team so we will bounce back from this.

“We will keep fighting every week, just as we have been doing, to get out of that danger zone.”

Southend also did well in stages at the weekend.

And Jackson thought they had the game won heading into the closing stages of the contest.

“With 10 minutes to go I thought we had it in the bag,” said Jackson.

“But Lydney changed their tactics towards us, they started hoisting up high balls and fed off our mistakes.

“We nearly stole it with a big run from Marcus Bloomberg at the end but it wasn’t to be.”

Southend went in front with a penalty from Brad Burr before the hosts drew back level with a kick of their own from Tony Wicks.

Moments later, Lydney’s Brad Barnes bagged the first try of the game and Wicks added the conversion.

A try from Harry Brown then put Lydney 15-3 in front before Southend hit back just before the break with centre Chris Vaughan scoring a try which was converted by Burr.

Southend then went back in front when Harry Hudson scurried over for a try which was converted by Burr.

The hosts were reduced to 14 men in the 55th minute when Charlie Daniel was dismissed after tangling with Saxons skipper Kris Chesney.

However, Lydney were still able to threaten and Barnes soon put them in front with a try following a quick tap penalty.

Wicks’ conversion then made sure of the win but a late penalty from Burr did at least secure a losing bonus point for the Saxons.

Southend Saxons: Cleare, Driver, Nash, Vaughan, Billings, Nash, Burr, Taylor, Fardell, Ferrier, Bevans-Royston, Chesney, Jackson, Fombo, Shields, Hudson

Replacements: Kellard, Guess, Strachan, Bloomberg & Pollard.