That’s how Forbes captain-coach Jake Grace has described the Group 11 defending premiers’ 28-16 loss to the Tigers in Nyngan on Sunday.

The Magpies scored the first try of the game before the hosts bolted to a commanding 16-4 lead during the first term.

The Magpies clawed back to 16-all before a couple of late Nyngan tries maintained the Tigers’ unbeaten run at Larkin Oval in 2017.

Penalties and scrums dominated the day, and Grace said his side battled discipline-wise and ball control – both of which will be a focus at training this week – during their first loss of 2017.

“Nyngan finished ahead of us on the ladder last year, they’ve been a strong side for a long time, even more so at home,” Grace said.

“Errors and penalties killed us, but at the end of the day we weren’t good enough to beat Nyngan.

“It’s disappointing. We dropped a lot of ball.”

Compounding matters, Forbes lost both fullback Jessie Wighton (cork) and centre Ben Gunn (hamstring) during the clash, one a host of Magpies were made to back-up for following a tough outing in reserve grade as well.

Grace said the club had six regulars arrive at Larkin Oval for the lower grade game and he was hopeful of more numbers in the future to help support the Magpies reserves.

The 12 point loss in first grade drops Forbes from a share of the lead to a share of second on the Group 11 ladder with Nyngan and Parkes.

The Spacemen were the other beneficiaries of the Magpies loss after Parkes annihilated Westside 80-16 at Pioneer Oval for their third win of the season.

Westside’s tough season only got worse as they remain the only winless team but they have also conceded 282 points in four games, an average of 70 points per match.

Attack has also proved a problem for the Rabbitohs with just 42 points scored.

Narromine Jets didn’t get the points on the field, losing to the Wellington Cowboys 34-28 but revealed they had donated $471 to the Mark Hughes Foundation from their Beanies for Brain Cancer fundraiser.

The Cowboys were just able to open up a small lead when it counted, after the teams had traded tries during the match. Duane Gordon scored a double for the home team.

Grace believes both the result in his side’s clash at Larkin Oval and the recent form of Parkes and CYMS means there’s little respite for any side in this year’s competition.

“There’s strong sides right across the competition, particularly at home,” he added.

“We’ll wait and see how a few of the boys have pulled up after training and re-group ahead of next week.”

In the lower grades, Forbes won league tag 22-12, Forbes took out under 18s 32-4 while the Tigers proved too strong in reggies, winning 36-16.