SEDGLEY Tigers coach Geoff Roberts admits poor playing conditions and complacency cost his side victory as the Park Lane outfit were stung by Birmingham & Solihull on Saturday.

Having put in "the performance of the season" in their win at Leicester Lions last weekend, Roberts was left frustrated as the Tigers crashed 22-17 to the Bees in their first home game of 2015.

Buzzing from the start, the visitors defied their lowly 13th position in National League Division Two North, which has seen them win just six games all season, to condemn the Tigers to their eighth defeat of the campaign.

The Tigers soaked up the early pressure to lead 8-0 after 25 minutes but were unable to get their usual running rugby going in the cold, wet conditions.

"It was probably one of the worst pitches we've played on this season," said Roberts.

"The more we tried to play rugby, the more it kept breaking down.

"Birmingham seemed to deal with the conditions better than us.

"They played quite cleverly. We piled a load of pressure on to score the opening try but the timing of their points was perfect for them and it meant we were playing catch up rugby.

"The team have performed well recently and everyone switches on for the bigger games.

"Maybe the players didn't treat this game with as much respect as they should have done. I think Birmingham wanted it more. They scrapped for everything."

In a tense battle, the Tigers also lost Richard Wainwright to a shoulder ligament injury inside the opening 10 minutes, and Roberts admits this did not help his side's cause.

"When you lose one of your best players so early on in a game it's tough," said Roberts.

"The injury problems are sneaking on us now. In the last few weeks we've lost Ryan Parkinson and George Hymes for the rest of the season and Oli Parkinson and Chris Parrott are also sidelined."

The Tigers took the lead through Matt Lamprey's unconverted try and a Steve Collins penalty following Peter Koziot's early yellow card for the visitors.

But the Bees replied with tries from winger Aquile Smith and full-back Ian Briggs, with Adam Canning converting one, to lead 12-8 at the break.

Canning's drop goal three minutes into the second half extended the visitors' lead before Sedgley tried to take the sting out of the contest with Collins kicking two penalties on 50 and 52 minutes as the home side clawed their way back to within one point at 15-14.

However, Smith added his second try of the game with fly-half Canning again converting to leave the Tigers trailing 22-14 with less than 20 minutes remaining.

Collins' fourth penalty of the afternoon was not enough for the Park Lane side as the Bees held on for a deserved victory.

The Tigers, who remain in sixth place, have now lost two out of their three games since the turn of the year, something Roberts knows his side must improve upon when they travel to 12th-placed Preston Grasshoppers in the Lancashire Hot Pot derby on Saturday.

"Forget all form. It will truly be a pitch battle," he said.

"Everyone will be up for it and there's no way Preston will want to lose at home.

"They put in a tremendous performance at Ampthill at the weekend, eventually losing 22-17, so they'll have their tails up and we will have to match that."