BROMSGROVE’S director of rugby Dan Protherough was left a little disappointed as relegation from National Three South West was confirmed at the weekend.
The Boars’ position at the foot of the table was cemented on Saturday following their 46-9 defeat at runaway league leaders Old Redcliffians.
Protherough’s side had been in contention as they went into the break just 17-9 down, but after the sending off of Tom Hardwick just a couple of minutes after the interval, it made life very difficult as Redcliffians ran out easy winners.
Jon Critchlow bagged all of Bromsgrove’s points with a hat-trick of penalties.
“It was a tough game away from home and we have to give credit to Redcliffians as I think they are going to be deserved champions of this league,” Protherough said.
“We did not perform too badly in the first half but after the sending off we tried to hang in their but Redcliffians just pulled us all over the pitch.
“It was a bit of a disjointed game too as the referee did not allow both sides to contest the ball so it made things very stop-start.
“It’s a little bit disappointing relegation has been confirmed but we have already had our eye on next season for the last month.”
Bromsgrove are out of action this weekend but Protherough was quick to praise the goings on behind the scenes which has kept the club afloat throughout a difficult campaign.
“It’s been a tough old slog and the players have been tremendous but the club officials deserve a lot of credit for all their effort to keep us going,” he added.
“Everyone on the board has done what they can to keep Bromgrove financially stable as we have lost a lot of revenue from not being in the Midlands league.
“We are pretty much guaranteed a return to the Midlands now which means we can have local derbies which attract the away supporters.
“It’s been tough travelling to Devon every other week with a lack of support but what’s gone on behind the scenes has helped minimise that impact.”
