SEDGLEY Tigers coach Geoff Roberts believes his side may just have turned a corner following a frustrating start to the campaign after putting in "the performance of the season" at Leicester Lions on Saturday.

The Park Lane outfit eased to a 23-17 victory in the battle of the big cats with Roberts pleased with the solid and dominant display, which he believes was reminiscent of last year's 12-match unbeaten run.

"It was a fantastic game and a brilliant performance from the lads," he said.

"We played well in last week's defeat at Ampthill and we just seem to kick on from there.

"We defended for the full 80 minutes and we had much more in the way of cutting edge in attack.

"I would definitely say it was the performance of the season so far."

Two early penalties from Matt Riley gave the Tigers a 6-0 before John Murdoch went over for the Lions. Daniel Burke added the conversion to give the hosts a 7-6 lead.

Matt Lamprey's try on 33 minutes restored the Tigers' advantage with Riley kicking the extras as the visitors led 13-7 at the interval.

A Burke penalty reduced the arrears for the Lions on 43 minutes but two tries in two minutes from Curtis Strong restored the Tigers lead to 25-10, with Riley adding one conversion.

The Lions replied with a try from Robert Young, which was again converted by Burke, before another Riley penalty seven minutes from time wrapped up the win for the Tigers.

In a match that was difficult for Roberts to pick out a man-of-the-match, the Sedgley coach was particularly impressed with the performances of both full-back Richard Wainwright and winger Curtis Strong, who has now notched up four tries in three games.

"Wainwright made three try-saving tackles and it's great when you've got a fantastic full-back like that to call upon, while Strong is another player you want playing in every position."

The Tigers, who moved up to sixth in National League Two North following the win, face tough fixtures against Preston Grasshoppers and leaders Hull-Ionians this month and Roberts believes his side must now remain focussed and maintain the momentum to see off those challenges, starting with a home fixture against Birmingham on Saturday.

"Birmingham are maybe not as far up the table as you'd expect but they've been giving teams tough games so they won't be easy to beat.

"It's all about confidence. When you start playing well like this your confidence grows.

"We've just got to keep our eye on the ball and keep going."

However, the Tigers coach was dealt a blow earlier this week with the news that Ryan Parkinson and George Hymes will both miss the rest of the campaign through injury, and Roberts admits the club may now be forced into making at least one new signing before the league's transfer deadline in mid-February.

"Parkinson has a groin injury and also needs an operation on his shoulder, while Hymes has a suspected cruciate ligament injury that will rule him out for six months so we are definitely on the lookout for a prop-forward," he said.