COACH Iain Hall praised his Bromsgrove RFC players for pushing Bedford Athletic on Saturday but was left ruing missed chances in the 41-17 defeat to the second placed side at Finstall Park.

Hall watched his side fade away in the final 20 minutes against a physical side.

He said: "We were more than a match for Bedford for almost all of the game.

"But their fitness was better than ours and after sixty minutes we tired.

"We gave them a good game but if we had taken our chances and been fitter it would have been a much closer score line."

Kent Summerfield continued his excellent try scoring form for Bromsgrove.

The New Zealander bagged a try in the first half, scored a penalty and converted both touch downs. Lee Ward scored a touch down in the second half for Bromsgrove.

However, Bromsgrove's opponents were in control of the match throughout.

Matt Ireland bagged a brace to punish the Boars, while Ed Swannick, Barry Kirwan, Mouritz Botha, Scott Grant and Jamies Rudkin all scored tries against Bromsgrove.

Hall said: "Fitness was the difference but we are already addressing that key area.

"There were a lot of positives to take out of the game."

Bromsgrove do not play this Saturday but end the season against Rugby Lions at Finstall Park on Saturday, April 8 (3pm start).

Bromsgrove continues its restructuring behind the scenes with Owen Sweeting appointed team manager.

Sweeting will be put in charge of looking after administrative team's affairs. This continues the rebuilding of Bromsgrove's back room staff after Richard Scrivener was named first team fitness coach.