FLY-half Dan Bradley blamed a poor opening quarter for Chipping Sodbury’s late, late defeat to St Mary’s Old Boys on Saturday.

It was a heartbreaker for Sodbury who had led the Gloucester Premier League clash by two points with only seconds to go.

However, they let St Mary’s in at the corner for a dramatic converted try and left the field with a 22-17 defeat.

Bradley scored 12 of his side’s points via a fifty-metre try, a penalty and two conversions.

However, Sodbury, playing with a furious wind at their backs in the first-half, allowed St Mary’s, second in the table and in the promotion play-off place, to score two tries, one converted, for a 12-0 lead at one stage.

Bradley’s first-half try, another in the second-half from captain Pete Butcher, which Bradley converted, and a penalty in front of the posts put third-placed Sodbury 17-15 up going into the last minute.

But that late try from Kristian Richards broke Sodbury’s hearts.

Bradley reflected: “We had an awful first-half and went 12 points down. You can’t afford to do that at this level.

“We fought hard and got back to the point of winning. I thought we destroyed them in the final scrum but the ball seemed to pop out of it and then, a few phases later, they go over.

“The wind was the same for both kickers. I missed a sitter in front of the posts in the second-half but was fortunate to get another chance later.

“They missed two penalties, we missed two penalties, they scored that extra try.

“We are just so bad in the first-half. They are always probably going to score in the second-half and we kept them out for 39 minutes and thirty seconds.

“To go 12-0 down to the second in the league, you cannot afford to do it.”

A win could have seen Sodbury go into second place and, with only a handful of games let, a promotion play-off spot could have been on.

But it is a hard task now. Bradley added: “For promotion, we are going to struggle now but you never say never.

“You get into second and you are in the play-off but we had a bad run before Christmas.”

Sodbury, who played Winscombe in the County Cup semi-final last night, take on Frampton Cotterell at home on Saturday.