A DEPLETED Sedgley Tigers side climbed back into third place in National League Division Two North following a hard-fought victory over Otley in their final home game of the season on Saturday.

Despite missing several key players, the Park Lane outfit, who had slipped to fourth place following a five-point deduction for fielding unregistered second-row player Jack Corr against Caldy at the end of March, leapfrogged The Ravers with a 39-33 success against their old rivals.

The Tigers' win, coupled with Caldy's surprise defeat at struggling Preston Grasshoppers, was enough to move the Park Lane outfit four points clear of the chasing pack and take the race for a top-three berth into the final weekend of the season.

And despite the Tigers missing out on the top-two promotion places, coach Geoff Roberts is confident his side can pip joint fourth-placed sides Chester, Harrogate and Caldy on Saturday.

"A win against Broadstreet would guarantee us third place but if we could get four tries and are within seven points and lose, that does it as well.

"To secure third would be brilliant. It would be one place better than last year and something to build on for next season.

"Morally we've got it because we got deducted points because of my slip up with the registration papers.

"We've just got to hope we are switched on and put in a good performance. We know we are capable of doing it."

Matt Lamprey opened the scoring for injury-hit Tigers against Otley last Saturday with a fifth minute try. Steve Collins added the conversion.

Jack Mackie's try and a conversion from Otley captain Stephen Depledge levelled the scores at 7-7 after 18 minutes.

But tries from Andy Riley and Callum McShane and another conversion from Collins saw the Tigers race into a 19-7 lead after half an hour.

Freddie Watson's unconverted try three minutes from the break pulled Otley back into contention at 19-12 at half time.

Andy Riley's second try of the afternoon 10 minutes into the second period increased the Tigers' lead to 24-12 before a try and conversion from Depledge brought the visitors back to within five points at 24-19.

However, a 15-point blitz from the Tigers midway through the second period looked to have sealed the win for the hosts.

Tries from Richard Wainwright and Liam West and a conversion and penalty from Collins increased the Tigers' lead to 39-19 on 62 minutes.

However, two converted tries from Otley in the final 10 minutes of the game meant it was a nervous ending for the hosts after efforts from Paul Jack Scott and Harry Hudson were again converted by Depledge.

"We seemed to pick up a decent lead but they kept coming back at us so it was a bit nail-biting at the end," said Roberts.

"Otley are a good outfit and our squad was pretty much threadbare due to injuries.

"We lost Mike Quickenden to a knee injury early on and had no cover for second row or back row on the bench, so we had to use reserve prop Jack Warrington in the second row, which wasn't ideal.

"Despite all that we played well. Jamie Harrison had a brilliant game and made some fantastic runs and Richard Wainwright also impressed."

The Tigers travel to seventh-placed Broadsheet for their final match of the season on Saturday with Roberts expecting a tough test with a patched up side as they aim to secure third place.

"It will be a difficult trip," he said.

"Broadsheet have had a steady season and quietly they have done very well, particularly at home.

"I think we will just about scrape a team together. We'll have Rhys Davies back but obviously Quickenden is now out and Callum McShane, who also took a knock against Otley, is a doubt."