SEDGLEY Park general manager Geoff Roberts felt his side shot themselves in the foot in defeat at Tynedale in National Two North last weekend.

At a ground where they always seem to struggle, the Tigers had plenty of chances to kick for penalties in the first half in Northumberland.

But they chose to go for tries instead and when they failed to make them count, it left the door open for the hosts and they barged through to seal a 22-19 victory.

It was hugely frustrating for Roberts as the struggling home side were gifted a much-needed victory and Sedgley’s woeful run at Tynedale continued.

The defeat also saw the Tigers slip to fourth in the table and lose ground on leaders Hull Ionians.

Roberts said: “We shot ourselves in the foot – there’s no other way to put it.

“We turned down five or six penalties in front of the posts to kick before half time and then failed to score tries in the corners.

“We like to play open rugby but it is a lesson learned for the lads.

“In a game that was always going to be tight, we should have taken the points on offer every time.

“If we had we would have been in a strong position at half time.

“Considering our record there, if there is one place to take every point available then it’s at Tynedale.”

Sedgley welcomed back Hallam Chapman, Jamie Harrison and Mark Goodman to the ranks for the trip to the North East.

And they went into the interval 7-5 in front thanks to Max Ashcroft’s try and Oliver Glasse’s conversion cancelling out an opener for the hosts.

But despite further scores from Matt Riley and Nathan Rushton after the break, they went down to a third league loss of the season.

Roberts says there is no time to mope around with another tricky test on home turf against Peterborough Lions on Saturday.

He hopes to have more players back from injury with vice captain Bob Birtwell, Liam Canning and Steve Collins all in with a chance of returning, as well as Max Skofic, who is back from international duty. It will bolster the ranks and increase selection options at Park Lane.

Whoever gets the nod, Roberts admits his side needs to refocus ahead of a crucial run of fixtures before the end of the calendar year.

Roberts added: “We need to get back on the horse quickly this weekend.

“Peterborough may be down there with Tynedale but all their games have been against top-half teams so we cannot take them lightly.

“We have a crucial run of games coming up against all the sides around us at the top end with Hinckley and Hull Ionians our next two opponents after this weekend.

“If we can stay within 10 points of the top by the end of this run of games, we will have a chance again this season.”