MANAGER Cliff Humphreys bemoaned his side’s high penalty count after Wisbech threw away a lead in a deflating loss to Old Brentwoods.

The relegation battlers paid for their ill-discipline in the second half of Saturday’s game as a 27-15 lead turned into a 31-27 defeat.

Will Pettit and Tom Martell scored tries, while Mark Laws kicked a conversion and a penalty, as Wisbech produced some of their best rugby of the season in the opening exchanges at Harecroft Road.

The visitors hit back to trail 15-12 at the break, but two quick-fire tries from Joe Barfoot and another Laws conversion looked to have wrapped up the win for Wisbech.

However, the hosts conceded a flurry of late penalties and Brentwoods capitalised by scoring two tries and a penalty to steal the points.

Humphreys said: “This is a game we should have won. I cannot explain why we keep giving penalties away as all the players in the squad are seasoned rugby players.

“The unacceptable penalty count has cost us the last three home games, which we were leading only to press the self-destruct button in the last five minutes.”

Wisbech, who sit second-bottom in London North-East Division Three, travel to fellow strugglers Canvey Island on Saturday. Humphreys said an away win would “do wonders for team morale”.