A LACKLUSTRE Oakham side took vital points to move to second in the Midlands East (North) division on Saturday.
The Oaks beat mid-table Mellish 16-12 but had to come from behind and could have lost had their opponents punished them for giving away needless penalties.
It was a below par display on the back of an oustanding showing the week before and coach M
ark Powell is frustrated by inconsistency of performances.
Powell said: "One week we have a fantastic performance and then this week we don't get the basics right.
"Their fullback missed five penalties. If he had been on song they could have won it.
"We let in two soft tries and in terms of tackling our defence was poor. We were tackling high and gave away too many penalties - 18 - and that could cost us against a good kicker. You cannot afford to give away points like that."
Oakham were a try down after five minutes and despite pulling back through a Ben Harries try, conceded a second within half an hour.
Oakham's victory came from the kicking of Mark Matthews who added two penalties and drop goal to his first half conversion.
"It was a superb drop goal," said the Oakham coach, who added George Reid in the second row and scrum half Ollie Baines, his nomination for man-of-the-match, were among Oakham's best performers on Saturday.
"It was not a great game. We did did not perform well," he added. "We had to make a few changes due to injuries and unavailability, and the guys that came in did ok, but we will have to do better if we want to go up."
Oakham are in a tight promotion charge alongside Nottingham Casuals, who are now top, and an Ashby side that is just a point behind with a game in hand.
Next up is an away trip to Barton & District on Saturday followed by a clash with Casuals at home a week later.
Powell said: "Barton are a mature team and play a dour game, and it could be wet and sticky which will not favour us. But every game is a must-win now if we want to get promoted."
The Oaks ran out in new kit on Saturday courtesy of new shirt sponsor Oakham Packaging. Mark Powell thanked the firm for its support.
* Oakham: Flather, Watt, Burton, B Harries, A Stimpson, Matthews, Baines, D Corner, Grieve, Oliver, G Reid, Gamgells, M Stimpson Pocock, Scott; Reps: Karl, Harrison and Bryant (unused)
