ASSISTANT coach Steve Hazzelby felt Sedgley Tigers deserved a share of the spoils from their tussle with fellow promotion-chasers Fylde.

The Tigers were beaten 17-10 on the road but put in a second-half comeback from 17-0 down to give their second-placed hosts a scare.

It ended a three-game winning sequence for the Park Lane side but they remain in third place in National Two ahead of this w3eekend’s final home game of 2019 against winless bottom side Scunthorpe.

And Hazzelby hopes they can end the home calendar year on a high by bouncing back from the Fylde reverse.

He told the club’s website: “Despite the loss our spirits are high and we know that to win against the top teams you have to take your chances on the day.

“This Saturday we entertain Scunthorpe, who have not started the season well but we are taking nothing for granted and are looking for a reaction after last week’s disappointment.

“Going into the last two games of the season before Christmas it is worth reviewing our efforts thus far.

“We have played 13 games, won 10 and lost 3 and we have a solid third place and are putting the pressure on the top two.”

The Fylde defeat saw Tigers unusually register just one try – through James Harper, while Steve Collins added a conversion and a penalty.

Hazzelby added: “Fylde had started the season well with just two losses and one draw and were five points above us in second place, so this was always going to be a close, hard-fought battle between a team who like to play open, fast rugby and a team who have one of the best defences in the league.

“Early exchanges were uncompromising with both teams testing each other’s defences.

“Fylde scored their first try after 11 minutes after a good line-out and wide play from their back line putting them 7-0 in the lead.

“We didn’t play our best rugby in the first half where we squandered chances through unnecessary errors and frustrating penalties.

“Fylde went further ahead on 31 minutes with a well-taken try from their good full-back Tom Carlton, giving them a solid 14-0 lead at half time.

“The second half was much better for us with an encouraging performance where our set-piece was solid, our attacking shape good and our ball retention excellent.

Time and again we put the pressure on the Fylde defence often playing from within our own half and making huge inroads into their 22 and this was rewarded with a great try from young prop James Harper after 50 minutes, converted by Steve Collins.

“We added another three points with a penalty to put us right back in the game going into the last 15 minutes.

“Despite this excellent second-half performance, we were unable to get the win and Fylde took the points.

“We did get the losing bonus point but a draw would probably have been the right result after a massive effort from all of the boys.”