“It was an unbelievable performance,” said Sedgley Park’s Director of Rugby and second row stalwart: “Everyone without exception got stuck in from the first whistle.

“Two of their tries could have been avoided, because they came from a couple of lucky bounces, but other than that it was pretty even and we led for long periods.

“I was particularly happy with our tight game as we absolutely destroyed them in the scrums where Phil Gazzola was awesome, none of their props could contain him.

“Overall we created a lot of chances and we didn’t allow them to settle but we just couldn’t finish them off, even though we got close to playing for the full 80 minutes. They are a huge side and not many teams will come away from Bedford with points.”

This Saturday the Tigers face another tough test when fourth-placed Cornish Pirates visit Park Lane.

“They’ve narrowly won and lost their last two games, so we will be going into the game quietly confident. But they are a full-time outfit and they will have done their homework on us,” said Fourie.

“It’s all down to mental attitude and heart. If everybody clicks again like they did against Bedford then we can beat them.

“Pirates may be a full-time team but they still have to make the long journey up here and then motivate themselves to win before making the same long journey back.

“They have weaknesses and we have to believe in ourselves and exploit those weaknesses. If we can do that we can beat them.”

Sedgley need to get something out of this game as recent results have seen them drop into the bottom three.

An early injury doubt is lock Glen Townsend who re-injured a troublesome shoulder down at Bedford, although Chris Briers and Jan Van DeVenter, who both picked up knocks, should be okay. Kick-off is at 2.30pm.

SEDGLEY TIGERS        v          Cornish Pirates

RILEY, Matt           15         THOMAS, Ollie
HALL, Chris           14         MOORE, James
CRAIG, Andy           13         DEVLIN, Paul
BRIERS, Chris         12         BUCKLEY, Nick
VAN DEVENTER, Jan     11         KOKO, Ali
JONES, Phil           10         STEENSON, Gareth
ALBINSON, Jamie        9         BOLT, Richard
GAZZOLA, Phil          1         COOK, Peter
RODDAM, Jonny          2         ELLOWAY, Rob
HALSALL, Martin        3         SEAL, Dan
FOURIE, Tim            4         BEARDSHAW, Joe
NORRIS, Ed             5         SENEKAL, Heino
NEWTON, Adam           6         COWLEY, Tim
PONTON, Jimmy          7         MOTUSAGA, Iva
SKURR, Jon             8         EVANS, Matt
 
BIRCHALL, Danny       16         PAVER, Alan
KEYS, Paul            17         KEMP, Nathan
DU PLESSIS, Petrus    18         CUMMING, Bruce
CROUS, Jan            19         CRACKNELL, Chris
LIVESEY, Dave         20         BETTY, Sam
LECK, Chris           21         FAIRHURST, Ed
PAYNE, Freeman        22         McATEE, Rhodri