DEJECTED Droitwich head coach Rob Bray couldn’t believe his side’s bad luck as they were beaten 16-14 by fourth placed Pinley courtesy of a controversial last gasp penalty.

Droitwich had looked set for a morale-boosting success in their battle to beat the drop from Midlands 2 West South.

In what proved a war of attrition at times, Droitwich built a 14-8 lead at half-time, thanks to an opportunist try from left wing Dan Wilkinson who intercepted to race the length of the pitch and score, while inside centre Tom Wormington thumped over three penalties.

Coventry club Pinley responded with a try and penalty before the break and then added a second unconverted try after the interval – but Droitwich were looking good value for the win until the final play of the game.

Droitwich lost possession from a line-out and were then contentiously penalised for a tackle when the referee judged they had come in at the side.

A despondent Bray admitted: “ It was a dubious penalty to say the least and the result of the game hung on that decision.

“The lads were quite downhearted afterwards – but there’s no doubt we’re getting better as we played really well in difficult conditions.

“We picked up one bonus point, but everyone felt it should have been four. I know it’s an old cliche, but I told the players the challenge will be how we come back from this game.

“I know it’s going to be a tough task to stay up, but we’re still alive and kicking. While it’s still mathematically possible to stay up, we will be giving it everything.

“As a side, we are improving and we deserved to get more out of the game with Pinley.

“When you consider we lost 68-7 to Malvern only a couple of weeks ago, it shows how far we’ve come in such a short space of time.”

Life doesn’t get any easier for Droitwich as they must visit top-of-the-table Banbury this Saturday, when they will be without the influential Mark Strutt who suffered concussion against Pinley and must miss the next two games as a result.