DIRECTOR of rugby Phil Knowles admitted that he and Kidderminster Carolians’ coaches made mistakes after Saturday’s 47-24 home loss to Shrewsbury in the Midlands Division Two West (North).

The Marlpool Lane side never recovered from a poor start against their Midlands rivals as they slipped 20-0 down and suffered their third straight defeat in the league.

Knowles blamed a collective responsibility by the coaching team.

He said: “I think the coaches have to hold our hands up and say we got it wrong.

“Shrewsbury are a much better side compared to when we played them earlier in the season.

“They caught us by surprise and we’d asked the players to do things that did not help.”

KCs had defeated Shrewsbury 55-5 in the North Midlands Shield in September but they produced an impressive display to stun the hosts.

They soon streaked into a 20-0 lead thanks to two converted tries and penalties.

George Morgan though sparked a fight back but the conversion was a fraction wide.

Jordan Hatch and winger Josh Winfield then initiated an attack down the left before the ball was switched right and centre Rhys Pritchard cut back inside the Shrewsbury defence to score under the posts. This time Morgan made no mistake with the conversion to make the score 20-12.

Shrewsbury bagged a try and but Matt Rigsby then went over for a try to leave the hosts trailing by eight points.

Once again, the visitors hit back and raced into a 42-17 advantage after scoring two tries.

To their credit, Kidderminster staged something of a grandstand finish and winger Ezra Fa’Alogo was unlucky to be denied a try when the referee was unsighted but they did manage a consolation bonus point when scrum half Chris Pinner went over, with Pritchard converting.

KCs face a tough test at Newbold in the RFU Intermediate Cup on Saturday (2pm ko), who are second in the Midlands Division Two West (North).

Knowles said: “We face another very, very, tough game at against a side flying high at our level.

“We’re on a poor run but we still have a good side and it’s a matter of time before we bounce back.”