SLOUGH suffered their first defeat in the Berks, Bucks & Oxon Premier on Saturday after a 32-25 loss away at Berkshire rivals Tadley on Saturday.

The Greenies are still well on course to win the title and promotion - just three more wins are needed - and head coach Alan Walters believes the loss could be a timely motivator for his side.

Walters told the Observer: “It was a tough result to take to be honest. We did not play well at all and Tadley were really up for it and deserved to win.

“We did not use the game plan and our attitude was poor, everything about us did not work.

“It was inevitable we would lose. There was always going to be a blip and unfortunately it happened on Saturday.

“It has a lot to do with the pedestal we put ourselves on. Individuals were thinking could we go unbeaten all season but now the pressure is off us.

“We had injuries but the boys that stepped in did a really good job, but we did not gel well and missed tackles in midfield.

“Tadley deserved to win because they played well and worked out our defensive structure, they knew we had big runners so blocked them and we did not use our Plan B”.

On the season Walters stated: “Going unbeaten for a season has never been done in this league before.

“Some players are not as good as they think so it has been the wake-up call we can use to carry us through to the end of the season.

“We will have a week of hard training, which the players need, before the Wheatley game”.

Check out the Observer sports Facebook page. Search: Robert Observer Sport and like, follow and share today.