Sedgley Park coach Steve Hazzelby rued mistakes as Tigers lost their National One derby against Sale FC on Saturday.

The visitors lost 24-18 in the second match of the new campaign after both had secured opening-day victories a week earlier.

And Hazzelby felt it was a missed opportunity for the Park Lane side.

He said: “We had both started well the week previous with good wins, so this was a much-anticipated game between two teams who look to play open and fast rugby.

“This was extremely disappointing for us because we had performed well for the majority off the game with a solid scrum, an accurate lineout and excellent attacking phases.

“We did gain a losing bonus point and Sale, to their credit, took their chances well.

“But this has to go down as a game we lost through making basic mistakes which they capitalised on.”

Initial exchanges were even with both sides looking to gain territory and possession in each other’s half and it was the home side that scored first, taking a 5-0 lead after Sedgley failed to clear their lines.

However, the visitors responded strongly eight minutes later with a lovely try for winger Rhys Henderson, who touched down in the bottom right-hand corner after patient work by the forwards, building phase after phase in Sale’s ‘22’. Fly-half Warren Seals added the conversion to make it 7-5.

Despite playing physical, controlled rugby, Sedgley failed to secure possession from the kick off and the hosts gathered and scored their second try to retake the lead 10-7 with 15 minutes to go in the half.

Seals did convert a penalty to level, however, making it 10 apiece at the interval, though the visitors were frustrated after gifting Sale two easy scores.

This was always going to be a tight, hard-fought contest between two evenly-matched teams where victory would depend on who could capitalise on each other’s mistakes better and take their chances - and so it turned out.

Tigers started the second half well with a worked try for hooker Ben Gregory after a powerful catch-and-drive from the forwards to put them into a 15-10 lead on 50 minutes.

But a dropped pass in midfield three minutes later saw the Sale winger collect the ball and race 50 metres to touch down under the posts. The hosts converted the try and were now back in the lead 17-15, very much against the run of play.

They then increased their lead seven minutes later with a 60-metre interception try after Sedgley were looking to move the ball wide.

The visitors were 24-15 down going into the last 10 minutes and despite a penalty from Seals, they ended up on the losing side.

This Saturday they host newly-promoted Dings Crusaders, from Bristol, with Hazzelby hoping for a response.

He said: “As always we will recover, prepare well in training and hopefully put in a great performance.

“We look forward to our usual strong support on the day down at Park Lane.”