HEAD coach Ross Baxter admitted Bromsgrove need to ease their worries at the bottom of the National North Two after Saturday’s 27-7 home loss to Chester.

The Boars suffered a second successive defeat to ensure they are still embroiled in a battle to avoid relegation.

They face a must-win match on Saturday at fellow strugglers Leicester Lions (2.15pm ko), who are two places below fourth-from-bottom Bromsgrove.

With testing matches against Luctonians and Stourbridge coming up later this month, Baxter is well aware that points are required in the East Midlands.

He said: “We had targeted Chester and Leicester as games we could win, but unfortunately, that has not worked out.

“Chester are a good side and they deserve to be in the top six, but that makes the Leicester match all the more important, especially because we’ve got very hard games coming up after it.”

On Saturday, the Boars welcomed new boys Chester to Finstall Park, but the hosts failed to capitalise on a good start to the second half.

The away side went into the break with a slender 8-0 lead, which was cut when Phil Horton touched down and Richard Mahoney added the conversion.

But Bromsgrove failed to take their chances when on top and Chester hit back with three touch downs.

The Boars are the division’s third lowest scorers this season, scoring just 238 points in their 13 games and Baxter blames their lack of cutting edge as the reason for their struggles at the bottom end of the table.

“It was a frustrating game because there were moments when we could have taken the game away from Chester,” said Baxter.

“But we failed to take our chances and paid the price. We are creating opportunities to score, but are not taking them. All we can do is keep working hard and become more ruthless.”

Meanwhile, in the Midlands Division Two West (South), Droitwich Spa suffered a 17-10 loss at Leamington. Spa had been trailing 12-3 at half-time, but they produced a spirited display and replied with a converted try. The home side hit back with another score, but there were positives for coach Scott Sturdy to take. They entertain Nuneaton Old Edss at home on Saturday (3pm ko).