Rosslyn Park 68 – 19 Sedgley Park Tigers
Match Report by Steve Hazz
Last Saturday saw the Tigers travel to South West London to face high-flying Rosslyn Park, who sat second in the league and had narrowly lost to leaders Rotherham the previous week. We knew it would be a huge challenge — away from home, on an artificial pitch, and at a ground where we hadn’t won in our last two visits. Spirits, however, were high, and we were determined to build on our encouraging start to the season.
There were several changes to the line-up, with Andy Riley returning at full-back and Matt Law back in at centre. Unfortunately, it was a tough afternoon for the Tigers as we suffered one of our heaviest defeats in recent seasons. From the opening kick-off, we failed to secure possession, and Rosslyn Park’s left winger cut through to score under the posts. Minutes later, another turnover saw their right winger race in for their second try. Fourteen points down inside six minutes, and we’d barely touched the ball.
We struggled to find rhythm, with errors and line-out inaccuracy preventing any attacking platform. The hosts capitalised ruthlessly, adding two more converted tries through their slick backline. Just before the break, we got on the scoreboard with a well-worked try for hooker Ben Gregory following a powerful catch and drive. We went into halftime trailing 7–28, knowing we needed the first score after the restart to stay in touch.
Sadly, that didn’t happen. Seven minutes into the second half, Rosslyn Park struck again through their right winger for his second, and two further quick tries took the score to 49–7 with twenty minutes still to play. We showed resilience, replying through second row Billy Addy after sustained forward pressure, but the home side added two more tries before Ben Gregory grabbed his second of the afternoon with a fine break.
Despite battling to the end, we fell short of a bonus point, with the game finishing 68–19 to Rosslyn Park — a day to forget for the Tigers. The hosts moved top of the league as Rotherham slipped up against Dings Crusaders, who we face next Saturday at Park Lane.
We’ll regroup this week, learn from the defeat, and aim to respond with a strong home performance. Please come down and get behind the Tigers — your support makes all the difference.