Fullerians head coach Rich Hoskins was left to rue his side’s defensive frailty as they suffered a 71-48 London One North defeat to Saffron Walden.

Their performance showed real quality in attack as Julian Manieson, Talo Peleto, George Harvey, Craig Duncan and Mike Kerr all went over.

However, over 50 missed tackles throughout the match ensured they stood no chance of taking anything from the game and left Hoskins frustrated.

He said: “We played very well at times in attack especially in the second half but our one on one tackling was woeful.

“To score 48 points is great. The guys kept going and at one point we had a chance, but we had a bad 20 minutes which allowed Saffron to score easy tries.”

Fullers’ struggles balancing attack with defence were evidenced early on as they spent the opening exchanges camped in the Saffron 22.

Despite their early dominance, they soon slipped to 14-0 behind after two quick scores for the hosts.

They responded well though and were back within two points after Manieson and Peleto went over.

Once again some poor tackling undermined the foundation Fullers had managed to lay and allowed their opponents to run in two more unanswered tries.

Hoskins’ charges kicked a successful penalty before half-time, but at 33-15 down they were facing an uphill challenge to get back in the game.

They started the second period in equally rotten fashion and three more scores in the space of 10 minutes ended any hopes of a recovery.

While Fullers were now facing a 52-15 deficit, they began to produce some of their best attacking of the game and responded through scores from Harvey, Duncan and Kerr.

By this point Saffron were beginning to tire but had enough in reserve to continue their scoring run and keep Fullers at arm’s length.

Duncan added another score to his name to secure the man of the match award as Fullers pushed hard to try and earn a losing bonus point.

It wasn’t to be though and a loose pass was picked off by Saffron’s winger who gleefully darted over for the 17th and final try of an entertaining match.

The result extends Fullers’ losing run to five games in a row and they currently sit 10th in the table.

They face a stern test tomorrow as they take on fourth place North Walsham knowing victory could see them climb three spots up in the table.

Walsham have won three of their last five matches and were in rampant form on Saturday as they trounced Ruislip 61-0.