Karl Roberts’ Crows were forced to concede top spot in Berks, Bucks & Oxon Premier after a narrow defeat.

The result leaves Crowthorne second in the table and two points behind last weekend’s opponents.

However, Roberts is confident they can bounce back and continue to challenge Risborough for the title with three more fixtures to play.

He said: “There was disappointment all-round after Saturday’s result. However, the good news is that at least we have games left to put things right.” Crows travelled with a strong, young squad on Saturday. However, they were ultimately undone by minor infringements that allowed Risborough captain Nick Grimsdell to land five successful kicks which proved the difference on the day in the tightest of encounters.

Driving downhill into the wind in the first half, Risborough kept it tight early on. But Crows’ defence held firm and Risborough needed a 12th-minute drop goal by Grimsdell to take the lead.

Crows tried their best to play their usual brand of running rugby but were either thwarted by a knock on in the wet conditions or by a referee’s call.

However, on 20 minutes Crows got their reward as they drove deep into the Risborough 22.

Quick thinking by the forwards and scrum half James Jarvis saw the ball recycled and travel through three pairs of hand.

Fly half Brad Mills then switched play to captain Sam Short who cut back inside to score unopposed, giving inside centre Mike Stepeny a simple conversion and a 7–3 lead.

Crows’ pack continued to grow into the game and the visitors were soon celebrating a second try just nine minutes after the first.

It came when man-of-the-match George Watson juggled the ball over the line after some impressive interplay between backs and forwards and a fine line-break by Stepney, who offloaded to Short before Watson scampered over.

That put Crows 12–3 ahead at the interval, but a series of infringements in the second half would prove to be their undoing.

They also got little joy from the match referee Bill Roques who ruled out three potential tries for the frustrated visitors.

One was for offside on the try line after a strong five-metre line outs, the second when a Risborough defender was adjudged to have made the first touch as wing Andy Dawson chased a kick over the line.

To compound their frustrations, Russell then appeared to have been tackled without the ball as he prepared to catch a pass and stroll over the line, which Roques ruled as a knock-on.

In the meantime, Risborough began to enjoy more territory and skipper Grimsdell was successful from their penalty attempts and, with 10 minutes left, he kicked a three-pointer to take the lead which they held onto until the final whistle.

Crowthorne travel to fifth-placed Farnham Royal this Saturday (3pm ko), having lost 43–24 to the same opposition in the first league fixture this season while Crows were still adjusting to the league.