A SLOW start was Dudley Kingswinford’s downfall as the side's recent winning run came to an end against a strong Moseley Oak side on Saturday.

DK’s spirits were high going into the game at Heathbrook after a streak of four wins following victory against the league’s bottom side Kenilworth the week before.

But director of rugby Neil Shillingford was left ruing a missed chance as his team failed to make it five wins on-the-bounce, coming out on the wrong side of a 24-15 score line.

“We lost the battle at the game line,” Shillingford said. “Moseley Oak are a strong unit and we struggled to break their defensive line at times.

“Man for man they were bigger than us, but that doesn’t give an excuse of why we kept gifting the ball back to them so easily. We would then have to work hard to get possession back.

“It took us a little too long to work them out, and by the time we got the measure of them it was too late in the game.

“If we’d have played another 20 minutes then I think we’d have come out on top.”

Due to have a free week from the league this week, an away cup tie in Hereford could be on the cards for DK, who will be back in league action against top-of-the-table Newport on March 25.

Shillingford added: “If we had the free week we would have used it to try and blood a few of our younger players as we always have in mind to look towards next year.

“But Newport will be a difficult match as they are in the middle of a promotion battle.

“We had a very good win against them earlier this season and they cannot afford to slip up again, so we are expecting a tough fixture.

“Going forward we are going to have to be a bit more precise but still play our usual fast flowing game. It’s just a case of merging the two.”