A CONVERTED try from Johnny Matthews three minutes helped Sedgley Tigers come from behind to earn a 27-24 victory at home to Stourbridge.

The visitors went into the break leading 16-3 following a try from William Harding and three penalties.

And they kept their noses in front throughout the second half as the two sides exchanged scores.

But two second-half tries from Andy Riley kept Sedgley within touching distance.

And when Matthews ran the ball over at the death coach Geoff Roberts admitted the victory felt all the more rewarding following the spirit his side showed to claim the points.

"The lads did really well to come back," he said, as they responded in gutsy fashion after falling to their first defeat of the season at Sheffield the previous weekend.

"We kept going in the second half and kept clawing our way back, only for Stourbridge to score again.

"It was a really tough game, so pretty rewarding to win it in the end."

Steve Collins returned to kicking duties after being unavailable for the last two games and his 100 per cent success rate proved crucial in the end.

After kicking a penalty in the first half, he completed the conversion following Riley's first try of the game four minutes after the break, then reduced the arrears to 16-13 with another penalty on 54 minutes.

Stourbridge edged back into an eight-point lead when Ashley Elvers ran over to score after the hour mark, but crucially Luke White missed the conversion.

White also missed a penalty attempt after Riley's second converted try had brought Sedgley to within a point.

And while the Stourbridge kicker made amends after slotting a fourth penalty of the day through the posts, it left the door open for the Tigers to mount a late onslaught, which proved decisive.

Roberts added: "Our games against Stourbridge are always a very tussle. We lost to them home and away last season so this result is an improvement.

"The funny thing is that we actually had the majority of possession and were the team applying all of the pressure, but we were guilty of not protecting the ball.

"Stourbridge play a very effective spoiling game, trying to wrestle the ball away at the ruck and in the tackle, so they were able to interrupt our flow that way and managed to score at key times.

"But we kept going and preserved out unbeaten record at Park Lane, keeping Fortress Sedgley in tact, which is important for the lads.

"They say to win a title you have to win all of your home games, then try to pick up as many points as you can away from home.

"We have a trip to Leicester Lions coming up this weekend – another top team.

"What we do in our away games will probably determine our fate, but it was important to keep up our winning record on home turf as not doing would just have heaped on the pressure on Saturday."

Sedgley remain third in National Two North, one place and one point above this weekend's opponents, and three points behind league leaders Caldy.