COACH Andy Black insisted lessons would be learned after watching Tenbury surrender a promising position against Greyhound on Saturday.

Captain Ed Gough led the charge with a first-minute interception and try under the posts with Claude Celton’s conversion followed by a penalty for a 10-0 lead early on.

The hosts remained on the front foot but conceded two breakaway tries either side of another Celton kick to trail 14-13 at the interval.

During the opening stages of the second half, it looked like Tenbury would regain the upper hand.

An extended period of pressure in the opposition’s 22 led to Greg Powell punching his way through the line but the game turned from that point on.

Greyhound used powerful running to mercilessly batter the Tenbury defence and while Black's men held firm for long periods, it was inevitable they would concede.

Over the next 20 minutes, Tenbury duly shipped three tries to hand the visitors a commanding 15-point cushion and while Callum Spires provided hope of a comeback late on, the physical nature of the match proved too much to overcome in a 40-23 setback.

“It was disappointing,” said Black. “We played very well in the first half, the forwards held their own and the backs passed well.

“Unfortunately, we didn’t defend as well as we should have or stand up to their counter attack and that gave Greyhound a couple of soft tries.

“They had a couple of strong runners who we should have marked out of the game but we were still within a point of them at the interval. I thought the game was pretty even at that stage but we conceded another couple of soft tries midway through the second half.

“We did get a few points towards the end but our overall game plan was broken. We did not concentrate on how we should have been playing during that key spell and the disruption allowed them to win the game.

“I think we learned an awful lot from it and must work harder during some of our training sessions. Injuries didn’t help and disrupted the line out in particular.

“It was frustrating for us and we have to look at our tactical planning. We came off feeling we hadn't played the right game.”

Tenbury return to cup action on Saturday, hoping for a return to the kind of form that saw 14 tries ran in at higher-ranked Five Ways, when they travel to Bloxwich.

The next league outing on Saturday, October 22 sees Tenbury travel to early pacesetters Market Drayton in Midlands Five West (North).