DELIGHTED head coach Dan Protherough took heart from Bromsgrove’s narrow defeat to Midlands rivals Old Halesonians.

The Boars were edged out 17-13 at Wassall Grove in the National Division Three Midlands.

They had been leading at one stage and saw Tom Biggs touch down and Jon Critchlow score two penalties and a conversion. Bromsgrove earned a bonus point but Protherough believes the performance could be the blueprint for the rest of the campaign.

He said: “We may have lost but I actually thought it was our best performance of the season.

“It sounds funny to say but I thought we were the better team and but for some small errors which need to be fixed we would have won the game.

“I thought the match would be close and there was not much in it.

“At the end we were really piling on the pressure and fair play to Old Hales they defended well and managed to hold out. Afterwards, Old Hales said we were the best team they had played.

“I thought our defending was also much-improved and this is definitely a performance we can build on.”

Bromsgrove had taken a narrow lead at Old Hales but the turning point came 15 minutes into the second half.

A loose pass followed by a panicky clearance kick gave the hosts an opportunity to counter, which they did to great effect with flanker Tom Jordan scoring near the corner and Chris Hooper converting.

Penalties were exchanged at about the half hour mark and despite a concerted effort, and a fine pass from James Lloyd Jones, the away side they could not breach Old Hales Bromsgrove now will be aiming to step up their performances when they welcome third-placed Peterborough Lions to Finstall Park on Saturday (3pm ko).

The Boars have slipped to ninth in the table and are now on a three-game losing streak taking in both league and cup fixtures. But the coach, who took the reins in the summer, is upbeat about the prospects for the rest of the season.

He said: “We are a young side but the players are learning. If you compare them to the first game of the season they have improved.

“We’ve got a very tough game against Peterborough but after Old Hales we are looking forward to it.”