SEDGLEY PARK 33, PERTEMP BEES 33: TIGERS' assistant coach Andy Northey will be called upon to put his joinery skills to good use, replacing a dressing room door he unhinged in frustraton after watching the Tigers emerge with a draw, when an injury time win looked there for the taking.

Two minutes into time-added-on, drawing 33-33 and finding themselves 30 metres out from the Bees' line in possession of the ball with referee Mr Chris Sharp's arm raised, indicating a penalty to the attacking team, it would appear they chose the wrong option.

Instead of attempting a drop goal and either being successful or taking a penalty kick, or kicking for touch and going for a catch-and-drive from a lineout, Sedgley chose to run the ball.

"We set very high standards and in a way I suppose we will never be satisfied because we keep raisng the bar," said Northey with a smile, having assessed the amount of work a new door would take.

"We only reached that standard for 20 minutes, but we scored four tries and we drew.

"If we can push that up to 60 and ultimately 80 minutes, we will put sides away.

"I can now see there are massive positives to take from this game, and Tim and I will keep pushing the players to achieve more and more every game."

Fourie conceded: "Yes, it was a case of points lost rather than points gained, but when you are out there you just go for it.

"Sometimes you make the right decisions, sometimes the wrong ones.

"Before the game I told the boys I was looking for an improved team performance first, and a result second, and there was a 100 per cent improvement.

"Our set phases functioned well - we won lineouts and contested the scrums - and we got the go-forward we'd been demanding.

"In short we were up for it, although we still try and play rugby in the wrong areas at times.

"Last season it took us eight games to get any points; this season we have seven from four games, and that is without our first choice stand-off, so we are improving."

It was an 82nd minute get-out-of-jail' penalty that guaranteed the Bees a draw at Park Lane, after the Tigers produced a brave fight back.

Three tries in eight second half minutes took them from 13-23 down to 30-23 in front, and changed the whole complexion of the game.

The Bees took the lead on five minutes, when scrum-half Ben Harvey slotted over the first of his four penalties. But Sedgley standoff Arno De Jager countered with an easy three-pointer to make it 3-3

Intense pressure from the Bees was then rewarded on 13 minutes with another penalty and Harvey restored their lead.

He returned the re-start kick and Sedgley ran the ball back from deep.

They were awarded two penalties during their surge upfield and from the second, five metres out from the Bees' posts, they elected to scrum and Dave McCormack picked out former Bee Shaun Woof, who took the pass at pace to buzz through the visitors' defence and go over, giving De Jager a straight forward conversion to put his side in the lead for the first time.

Harvey cut the arrears to one point with another penalty, and a cheeky behind-the-back flip-pass from Tim Walsh popped up nicely for fullback Dave Knight and he brushed aside two Sedgley tackles to restore the Bees' lead.

Another De Jager penalty then cut the deficit to three points at the turnaround.

The Bees caught Park cold within a minute of the restart, as hooker Matt Miles forced his way over the line, crowning a rampaging move down the right.

Sedgley hit back on 53 minutes, when De Jager's finely weighted pass cut out the centres to land in left wing Richard Hopkinson's hands, and he went over in the corner for an unconverted try.

The Tigers then took full advantage of the extra man, after Bees' winger Tom Beim was shown a yellow card, with further five-pointers from Gareth Roberts - following a driving maul from a five-metre lineout - and Dave McCormack, who pounced onto Jon Feeley's kick over the top into the right-hand corner - as Sedgley took a 30-23 lead.

With just 10 minutes to go it was Sedgley skipper Jimmy Ponton's turn for a yellow card and the Bees' grabbed the lifeline offered them.

Frenchman Guillaume Schueller emerged with the ball following a rolling maul from a five-metre lineout and Harvey's conversion made it 30-30.

On 75 five minutes De Jager gave Sedgley what looked like an unassailable 33-30 lead with his third penalty of the afternoon.

However, on 80 minutes Harvey knocked over a 25-metre kick, and following Sedgley's injury time wasted opportunity it was enough to guarantee a draw.

SEDGLEY PARK: McGee, Feeley, Woof, Voortman, Hopkinson, De Jager (Wilkinson 81), McCormack, Roberts (Gazzola 71), Keys (Oxley 49), Evans (Du Plessis 69), Fourie, Lund, Skurr (Senior 49), Ponton, Anania. Replacements not used: Rowe, T. Albinson.

P W D L F A Diff BP BT Pts

Cornish Pirates 4 4 0 0 152 74 78 0 3 19

Harlequins 4 4 0 0 137 47 90 0 2 18

Bedford 4 3 1 0 137 70 67 0 3 17

Nottingham 4 2 0 2 102 95 7 1 2 11

Plymouth 4 2 0 2 101 94 7 1 2 11

Newbury 4 2 0 2 111 129 -18 1 1 10

Rotherham 4 2 0 2 98 127 -29 0 2 10

Exeter 4 2 0 2 73 105 -32 0 0 8

Coventry 4 1 0 3 98 94 4 2 2 8

Sedgley Park 4 1 1 2 85 122 -37 0 1 7 Pertemps Bees 4 1 1 2 81 103 -22 0 0 6

London Welsh 4 1 0 3 82 107 -25 1 0 5

Doncaster 4 1 0 3 85 139 -54 1 0 5

Otley 4 0 1 3 72 106 -34 1 0 3

PETER COLLINS