Sedgley Park slipped to another defeat in National One but coach Steve Hazzelby says the display in their 28-26 loss at Birmingham Moseley was a vast improvement on previous outings.

In fact, Hazzelby says everyone was disappointed not to have left the Midlands with no more than a losing bonus point.

He said: “We were looking for a big reaction and a better performance than the week before against Bishop’s Stortford.

“We had beaten Moseley in this fixture last season, but we were taking nothing for granted as they had started the campaign well with four wins and just one loss and were lying fourth in the table.

“They are big well-drilled side who can be very dangerous when they get into your 22 so it was important we defended well and cut down the number of penalties that we had been giving away.

“We did have a few chances to get the win, but were not accurate enough.

“We did get the losing bonus point and our performance overall was so much better, but we were very disappointed with the result.”

Early exchanges were even with both teams testing each other’s defences looking for territory and possession.

A sharp line-break by Tigers fly-half Charlie Wardle saw the ball moved quickly to winger Rhys Henderson who touched down in the bottom right-hand corner to put the visitors 5-0 up after three minutes. They followed this up with a well-taken penalty for full-back Oli Glasse 12 minutes later to further extend the lead to 8-0 with most of the half to go.

Sedgley were playing good controlled rugby at this point and only unnecessary penalties enabled Moseley to get into their half.

However, their defence sets were solid and we were able to clear their lines time after time. A penalty on their line saw the Tigers forwards drive over for hooker Harry Thompson to touch down for their second try and Glasse added the conversion to make it 15-0 going into the last 15 minutes of the half.

Five minutes later a strong run down the right by winger Henderson saw him kick, collect and feed to supporting prop Jon Blanchard, who touched down for their third try. Glasse converted to make it 20-0.

A yellow card for winger Will Bradley meant the Tigers were down to 14 and it was during this period Moseley scored their first try after a good line-break.

Despite this, another penalty for Glasse on 36 minutes saw the visitors go into the break with a commanding 23-7 lead.

The second half was always going to be a massive challenge playing into a very strong wind and so it proved.

A penalty for the home side saw them kick to the corner from which their forwards powered over to reduce the lead to 23-14 with only three minutes gone.

Twelve minutes later, another powerful surge into Sedgeley’s 22 saw them drive over for their third converted try and put them right back in the game at 23-21.

The Tigers did respond with a third penalty from Glasse on 59 minutes, but every time they looked to put phases together, they were penalised which gave the home side possession and territory.

Another forward drive by Moseley in the 73rd minute gave them their fourth and bonus-point try and the game finished frustratingly for Sedgley.

Hazzelby added: “The effort and commitment of all the players was exceptional and special mention for winger Rhys Henderson who scored the first try and created the third.”

This Saturday, Sedgeley host Plymouth in the league.