Director of Rugby Chris Hayton said: "We gave two easy tries away and failed to convert one ourselves.

"But the Kendal spirit kicked in during the second half and we fought back from 17-16.

"Unfortunately, we made a mess from the restart kick to concede a penalty, but we still chased it right to the end.

"The fightback was reminiscent of last season and we know the spirit is still there when we are up against it.

"While we looked a bit bemused when things went wrong against Harrogate, we knew what we had to do.

"But we have to admit we are learning all the time.

"It's a bit like going back to school and sometimes we feel we're learning to play 'joined-up' rugby.

"There's definitely nowhere to hide out there.

"Every time you turn over a stone there a scorpion under it and you have to be really efficient at every stage - or else sides find you out.

"That's why we're giving over out training to upping the pace at which we do things.

Kendal were facing two of their hardest games over the next two weeks in Nottingham at home and rosslny Park away, he said.

"Nottingham have just beaten Rugby, who were one of the two pre-season favourites to take the title, while Rosslyn Park gave Preston Grasshoppers a real trouncing - so we know we'll have to be at our very best."

Coach Peter Kremer said:"We've quickly got to come to terms with the different situation in this division and technically we're leaving no stone unturned in putting things right.

"It's mainly about acclimatisation but we need to find the same spirit we had against London Scottish and Worcester, and if we do we have a chance of ambushing Nottingham."