BEACONSFIELD RFC are still groggy after a 43-12 hammering by Thatcham, but coach Simon Tattersall believes much of the damage was self-inflicted after accusing his team of lacking desire against the Southern Counties North high-flyers.

Wing Ryan Morgan and centre Andrew Brodie scored their tries, but in the end they were just jabs against a Thatcham onslaught.

Having pushed leaders Aylesbury all the way the previous week, Tattersall says the dip in performance was unacceptable.

He said: “They’re a very good side, but they wanted it more than us and that’s the disappointing thing.

“We just weren’t at the races. We spoke about backing up a superb performance against Aylesbury and we didn’t. We just weren’t at the races and quite frankly it was very, very poor.

“We didn’t look like we were interested in being there. Our warm up was flat and then for 20 minutes we let them bully us.

“There were things that didn’t help us.

“But they’re just excuses and at the end of the day we are accountable for our own performances.

“When we did play we cut them apart, but we made basic error after basic error and you can’t do that at any level.

“There were a lot of honest words spoken after the match, but talk is cheap and we have to go and deliver.

“We’ve got Bicester away next which will be another difficult game. We can either lay down and give up or we can bounce back.

“Everyone, the players and the coaches, are determined to bounce back. We’ve got to go there and win.”