Steve Dorrington felt discipline was a factor as Ellesmere Port went down 24-22 at Oldershaw in the opening game of the season in South Lancs and Cheshire Division Three.
Two tries from Jerry Phillips and scores for James Callaghan and Danny Burns should have given the Oilers the win but the home side gratefully accepted four simple penalties in the second half to sneak home.
Director of rugby Dorrington was keen to look on the positive side having picked up two bonus points.
He said: “The loss was no means a disaster. Our young side will learn from the game.
“If we hadn’t have given the penalties away we would have won the contest.
“We talked about the frailties of the display and we will work on them during the week as well as continuing to work on our very promising strengths.”
Oldershaw took the lead on 20 minutes but Phillips finished off a training ground move four minutes later to make the score 7-5.
Port paid the price for slow work at the breakdown when the hosts went scored again but Callaghan crashed over to make the half-time score 12-12.
Burns and man of the match Phillips added further scores in the second period as the Oilers had the greater possession even though the hosts had the territorial advantage with a strong wind behind them.
But the home side knocked over four three-pointers and finished ahead on the scoreboard.
Port welcome Oxton Parkonians to Dunkirk Lane on Saturday (3pm) and are hoping a good crowd will turn out to cheer them on.
Capenhurst, who are not in action this weekend, travelled to the Isle of Man on Saturday and were beaten 77-5 at Ramsey.
