AMERSHAM & Chiltern insist the scars are mental not physical after they lost a second match in a row to a try at death.

They were beaten 17-15 by Guernsey despite leading 15-10 going into the final play of the match.

But head coach Richie Williams says his team are experienced enough to bounce back from these setbacks when they go to Tonbridge Juddian in National League 3 London SE on Saturday.

He said: “We’re very disappointed to lose it in the manner we did, conceding a try in the last play of the match and then a touchline conversion.

“It’s very difficult to take and the last two games we’ve been leading before conceding a try very late on.

“But we spoke about it afterwards and we’ve all won games like that before. We’ve got experienced players here and I don’t think there will be any huge psychological problems.

“We just need to get a win again now.”

Williams says the biggest issue at the moment is physical, with six first team players absent and Saturday’s match with Guernsey the latest to be disrupted by late withdrawals.

Prop Stuart Day and fly half Ross Bugden both returned from injury, but then Rhys Keith and second row Dean Maclennan pulled out in the days before the match and number eight Tom Blackburn dislocated his shoulder half an hour into it.

Williams said: “We’ve been a bit unlucky with injuries and on Saturday again we had to move things around before the game and during it.

“We’ve got half a dozen first choice players missing at the moment and haven’t been able to field our strongest 18 yet this season. They are testing times at the moment.”

Amersham will still feel they had enough to win though.

They went behind early on but Bugden finished off a period of extended pressure with a try near the posts, and Jack Kenyon’s conversion made it 7–5.

Kenyon’s long-range penalty then made it 10-5, although a second try from the visitors levelled it up before the interval.

Amersham reclaimed the lead when Chris Jack went over early in the second half, and although the big Guernsey forwards began to hold sway in the final half hour, the hosts appeared to have done enough as the game entered injury time.

However, a series of scrums and line-outs finally broke them down with a try in the corner, and the touchline conversion consigned Amersham to a third straight defeat.

Williams said: “The performance was better than the previous week so although it was the third game in a row we’ve lost we’re not panicking.

“We haven’t become a bad side overnight.”