GEOFF Roberts has urged his Sedgley Tigers side to seal a play-off place as soon as possible.

Second-placed Sedgley narrowly lost a pulsating top-of-the-table clash with Macclesfield last Saturday, leaving them 20 points behind the leaders.

But the Tigers bagged two bonus points from the 34-33 defeat so the National Two North's play-off spot is still very much in their hands.

Third-placed Stourbridge are nine points behind with three games left, with fourth-placed Leicester Lions five points further back.

And fifth-placed Caldy, who Sedgley visit this Saturday, can now only go level with the Tigers.

Roberts' men also have a game in hand so he is eager to finish the job and avoid a nervy run-in.

“We need seven more points to secure second place so we're nearly there,” said the Sedgley coach.

“But with the play-off, we could be playing five games in the next month, so it'd be good to get it sorted as early as possible.

“It would have been lovely to pull off a win on Saturday but considering we still had six players missing, I was pretty chuffed with the performance.

“We're just about getting away with it, squad-wise, but the sooner we get there the better because it would be helpful in terms of managing the players physically.

“The picture changes a bit each week but we've just got to keep looking to the next game and trying to edge a bit closer.”

They would be even closer right now had they managed to snatch victory against the runaway leaders.

Sedgley made a fine start, storming into a 12-0 lead after two tries in the opening nine minutes by Curtis Strong, the first of which was converted by Matt Riley.

But a Sedgley error allowed Macclesfield back into the game moments later as Jordan Brookes touched down, followed by Charlie Venables on 27 minutes. Lewis Barker converted both before adding a 32nd-minute penalty to make it 17-12.

A converted Juan Crous try gave Sedgley a 19-17 lead at half time, and the lead changed hands three more times before the hour mark.

Macc's Ryan Parkinson and Sedgley's Matt Lamprey exchanged tries before Barker kicked a 59th-minute penalty to make it 27-26.

And when he converted another Parkinson try on 74 minutes, it looked as though the leaders had clinched victory.

But Matt Riley converted a Tom Bedlow try with two minutes left, only to miss a penalty at the death.

“It was the best game of rugby we've had here all season,” Roberts added. “It was nip and tuck, it had everything.

“We could have won it with the final play of the game but it just went the wrong side of the posts.

“I think we lost it rather than they won it. We came out of the blocks really quick, but then let them back into it.

“It became a battle and was a really hard, tough game, but they're all tough games now.

“We go to Caldy and then have Preston at home, and wherever they may be in the league, they always perform well against us so we've got to expect anything.

“We've never won at Caldy but maybe it's time to break our duck there.”

Fly-half Steve Collins could be back in contention for this Saturday's game after an ankle injury.