EXPERIENCED forward Alan Keylock believes Malvern must add a ruthless edge to their game to stand a chance of climbing up the Midlands One West table.
The 27-year-old, who is a player/coach at the Spring Lane outfit, was part of the side denied a memorable win over local rivals Hereford, who are third in the league, on Saturday.
Malvern were leading 7-3 going into the final 15 minutes at Belvedere Lane, but two tries as well as a penalty from Lloyd Collier in the closing stages gave Hereford a 16-7 victory.
Keylock said they were “angry” and “upset” to come away empty-handed as he felt his side, who are two points off the relegation zone, had dominated most of the encounter and thoroughly deserved a win.
“Our league position and our win count does not reflect the way we are playing,” he said.
“Hereford are third in the league and we made them look incredibly average.
“We outplayed them for 90 per cent of the game, but it was just in a couple of key areas where decisions went their way.
“We have deserved a big result, but it hasn’t happened for us yet.”
However, Keylock said they were guilty of failing to covert a number of chances to kill the game off against Hereford, which he believes they need to improve on if they want to rack up more victories this season.
“Winning is a habit and I just think if we were that little bit more ruthless and more clinical in areas it will swing our way,” Keylock added.
“I think the most important and positive thing for us to take is the fact that it is not our rugby ability that needs to change as we are scoring points against the best teams.
“We have the capability, but it is just that final piece missing where we need to hold on to a lead.
“We were guilty of decisions not going our way and then it just fell into the hands of a team who are towards the top of the league and have got that appetite to win games.”