"I was aware of two games on Saturday where the relatively impecunious visitors were regarded as massive underdogs.

One was at The Woodlands, where Fylde, proud of the league's second best home record, were seeking to maintain pressure on the play-off place at the top of the league.

The other was in France. I was unable to attend the game of my choice as a result of working with the IRB in Paris.

However, I found some consolation when I discovered that we would be visiting the Stade de France as guests of the French Rugby Union to witness the ritual humiliation of Scotland, a result widely regarded as a formality in Gallic circles.

The parallels between the games did not end there.

In both encounters the away teams took an unexpected lead, by playing the better rugby, though sadly both were to lose it in cruel circumstances in the dying minutes.

Kendal did have the satisfaction of returning home with a draw, a result denied to the Scots through inexplicable unforced errors at the death.

Having followed the scoring sequence by text message throughout the game, I suffered the agony of listening to a telephone commentary of the game's final scrum and the events which followed it.

The account of the conversion attempt recalled the helplessness with which Scots fans endured the wait for the video referee to confirm their fate.

Mercifully, the result was different, and the remarkable achievements of the previous 85 minutes were not undone.

While we can be delighted with the improvements in defence which have meant that we have not conceded more than ten points since the New Year, we must also be concerned that this is the third time that we have lost league points in the final act of the game.

Not all periods of the game are of equal tactical significance, and the ability to play through the dying minutes without panic, and without conceding possession and position is a vital one. This is especially the case in a league as tight as this year's competition is proving to be.

We now face a defining stage of the season. There is considerable confidence in the camp that recent progress has made the team worthy of a place in the top third of the league.

With a forthcoming sequence of games against six of the league's best teams, including all the top five, we will have ample opportunity to measure this theory.

I share the players' conviction that we have the creative power, and defensive security, to overturn some of the top teams, and the coming weeks will test this.

We will soon discover whether we are really in a position to compete with the best.

There is a difference in philosophy between looking at the table with a view to overtaking teams above, rather than staying ahead of teams below. If we are to move forward, we must espouse this more positive approach in all dimensions of the club's activity.

When we resume league action against Darlington MP (February 19) we should not be tainted by the foul stench of complacency.

Although our opponents have tumbled down the league of late, our four meetings in the last two seasons have seen repeated defeats.

It will indeed be progress to keep them to 10 points or fewer.