Romford & Gidea Park head coach Jordan Wigham admitted he was ‘gutted’ fir his young side following their 22-15 home defeat against Diss at the weekend.

Park had got their noses in front at the break but were left to rue a red card early in the second half as the visitors turned the London Two North East match on its head.

And Wigham felt his players deserved more given their efforts against a Diss side who are now sitting third in the table heading into a blank weekend.

He said: "We played well in places and I'm gutted for the boys that we didn't get the win in the game.

"We were the better team, but it's a few moments in the game that this young team have to learn to manage if we are to win games.

"Diss are near the top and, to be honest, we should have beaten them. We were ahead at half time and a few things didn't go our way.

"But the boys didn't give up and worked hard to give themselves a chance of winning the game."

After taking the initiative with a try and a penalty to build an 8-0 lead, Wigham was in no doubt about where the match was lost.

He added: "A few errors straight from half time and the red card let them back in the game.

"From the kick off in the second half, within four minutes we went from 8-0 up to 10-8 down and down to 14 players."

A fourth defeat in six matches leaves Park down in ninth place in the 12-team division, having finished runners-up last season.

And Wigham was glad to now have a free weekend at his disposal, in order to work through some things with the squad and ensure they are as well prepared as they can be for when they return to league action.

Park visit fourth-placed Southwold, who have won four of their six matches so far this term, on Saturday week (November 9) and Wigham said: "We will use the four training sessions to prepare for the next challenge.

"Southwold away is a tough place to go, but if we take the positives from this week and rectify a few things, we know we can go there and get a win."