SANDBACH were left kicking themselves after a poor performance against Dukinfield.

Vice-captain Chris Busby said: 'The crowd were disappointed with the way we played and so were we. Dukinfield played well but, after defending so well against Crewe the previous week, we defended poorly and only played in patches.'

Aaron Cushnie was the exception to the rule in defence, at one stage making five tackles on the trot.

Dukinfield went ahead with a good try and added a penalty before Sandbach hit back with a score from Dan Massey and two Lee Pickles penalties to go into the interval with a narrow 11-8 lead.

The visitors stormed back into the match after the break, as Sandbach struggled to click into gear, and regained their advantage with a try from a rolling maul and a disputed penalty try which the hosts deemed harsh.

Andy Rollins scored two tries, the second after outpacing his opposite number to go under the posts, and Pickles added both conversions.

But a penalty and a further try by Dukinfield left Sandbach trailing 30-25 going into the final 10 minutes.

Busby said: 'We managed to draw level with a late try but we didn't really have any chances to win the game after that and the game just fizzled out.

'We were disappointed with the way we played but results went for us and we are still second. We will be looking for better when we play at St Edward's Old Boys this Saturday.'