SOUTHEND Saxons suffered their third defeat in four games, losing 36-13 at Harpenden.

The setback kept Saxons seventh in the London One North standings.

And back row Jake O’Kill was a frustrated figure at the final whistle.

Saturday’s game was frustrating as we played a lot of the rugby,” said O’Kill.

“Going forward we showed real intent, consistently getting into their final third but we didn’t manage to turn it into points.

“Unfortunately Harpenden made the most of nearly all their chances, putting points on the board when they got close to our line.”

That saw Harpenden - who sit immediately above Southend in the standings - secure victory.

But O’Kill felt there were still positives for Saxons to take out of the game.

“Despite the result there were some strong individuals performances most notably Chris Vaughn and Tom Reeman,” said O’Kill.

“The latter of those has only just returned from an ankle injury. and played well.”

Harpenden opened the scoring with an unconverted try before Southend replied with a penalty.

Moments later, Jack Buckley teed up Tom Day to touch down and put Saxons 8-5 in front.

However, Harpenden began to get on top and scored two tries in quick succession to lead 17-8 at half-time.

After the break Harpenden scored another try before Mitch Bennett touched down for Southend.

But the hosts raced further clear to secure victory and O’Kill knows Southend need to stay patient in their bid for more consistency.

“Again it’s been a frustrating few weeks for us as a group but we know Rome wasn’t built in a day,” said O’Kill.

“Our intent is always the same, to go out and get a result on Saturday and enjoy ourselves. We are approaching each week on its own merits and we are now building towards next year by finishing as strongly as possible this year.”

Southend: Banks, Bennett, Ashton, Vaughan, Day, Lloyd, Branch, Bass, Grier, Smith, Newton, O’Kill, Buckley, Law, Wagstaff.