By Neil Bonnar

GEOFF Roberts believes people saw the real Sedgley Tigers for the first time this season on Saturday.

The Whitefield men produced an outstanding performance to beat Cinderford 31-23 away.

And first-team coach Roberts puts the reason down to his side finally being clear of the nightmare injury situation which has plagued them all season.

“The previous week we had Jimmy Lloyd and Louis McGowan back together again in the second row, but we were still without Nick Flynn, Richard Oxley and Conor McGrath,” he said.

“This week we had all five of them back together for the first time really this season and it made a massive difference.”

The victory, which saw tries for McGrath, Juan Crous, Jamie Harrison, McGowan and Lloyd, and three conversions from Matt Riley, keeps alive the Tigers’ razor-thin chances of surviving in National League One.

It also gave an indication of what might have been had they not suffered from a nightmare injury scenario which has cost them key players all season, and for much of the time denied them the services of half a team or more of key players.

Three go down, and with only four games remaining, Sedgley are second bottom, 17 points behind fourth-bottom Macclesfield and 12 adrift of Wharfedale.

That makes Saturday’s home clash with bottom club Cambridge must-win, and Roberts believes they will have every chance if they perform as well as they did last weekend.

“Cinderford beat (third top) Blaydon the previous week, which shows how good they are,” he said.

“And we went there and well and truly turned them over.

“What a difference it makes when you have got your pack back together.

“In other games we have been taken apart in the scrum, but this was the first time we have had something like our full team back together.

“The forwards were about as good as we can get, and once you get that stability and parity up front you can go on and play a bit.

“The pack provided the platform on Saturday. We tackled so strongly, and defensively we were very good.

“It backs up everything we have been saying this season about how the injuries have been the cause of all our problems.

“Because we’ve been saying it so often the message gets lost amid all the defeats, but Saturday’s performance proved it’s true.

“Now we can only keep going for the last few games, not looking any further than the next one, and making sure we enjoy it and play some rugby.”