Huntingdon only had themselves to blame as they slipped to Midlands Division One East defeat last Saturday.

Stags suffered a late collapse as they saw a 14-10 advantage turn into a 30-14 loss at Leighton Buzzard.

It meant a fine earlier fightback counted for nothing as Stags recovered from being stung by two tries in the closing stages of the first half when prop Luke Murphy was in the sin bin.

Huntingdon failed to register a single point in the opening 40 minutes with Dan Malem off-target with a couple of penalty attempts, but that soon changed following the restart.

Reggie Reid scorched over the line after collecting an offload from replacement Simon Rose, and Malem’s conversion reduced their arrears to just three points.

And that quickly became a four-point advantage as Tad Chapman raced in for a second try after Jack Skidmore had fizzed a perfect pass to him.

Malem guided over another successful conversion attempt to leave Stags on course for victory, but that was as good as it got for Damien Whales’ men.

A loss of discipline led to a stack of penalties being conceded and a series of tackles missed – and Leighton Buzzard took full advantage.

The home side ran in two converted tries and also sent over two penalties in the final quarter of the contest to leave Stags with plenty to ponder.

They will be out to respond when hosting Lutterworth at The Racecourse tomorrow, 2.15pm.