HIGH Wycombe completed their miserable season with another defeat on Saturday before captain Mike Hinch insisted they can't wait for next season.
Saturday's 52-6 defeat at mid-table Maidenhead saw Wycs complete a 100 per cent record of league defeats.
They have gone through their entire South West One season without a win, playing 22 and losing 22. But afterwards Hinch said the team was not down-hearted and looking forward to rebuilding next season.
"I think we conceded that relegation very early, about February time. Now we are looking at setting about bolstering support and morale for next season."
And Hinch praised all the players that have stuck with the struggling club this season.
"The season we came out of the nationals we lost 30 players. But I'm pleased we have kept this team together. No one has left this season and it's a credit to the coach.
"Next season they can build. If you've heard them talk about it, they're looking forward to it. They know they are capable of playing at this level."
Wycs may find their level in South West Two next season, but on Saturday it was Maidenhead who dominated the play.
Two well-struck first half penalties from the boot of Sean Cutler were the only points Wycombe could put on the board as they battled against Maidenhead's superior possession and speed down the wings.
Wycombe did manage long spells of determined defending, only to be let down by odd lapses, which let their opponents in.
Hinch added: "There are a lot of old heads in the Maidenhead side. We held them up well, but Maidenhead are tough."
Maidenhead went ahead in the first five minutes with a converted try and added three more before the break to make it 24-6 at half time. They ran in another four in the final 40 minutes, all converted, but in truth Wycs were unlucky to concede the last two in the final four minutes.
Marlow must beat Chinnor by at least 30 points if they are going to replace Wycombe in South West One next season.
Derek White's men beat Bournemouth 35-15 on Saturday to keep pace with current league leaders Salisbury, who beat Chinnor 17-11.
Marlow have just one game left to play, against Chinnor at Riverwoods tomorrow (ko 7.30pm) and their promotion depends on it.
If they win, goal difference will be the only thing to separate the top two sides and Marlow need at least 30 points to leap-frog their rivals.
Amersham and Chiltern, who briefly led the South West Two promotion race, went down 28-22 to Swanage on Saturday.
Chiltern put in a late surge to almost steal victory, but were thwarted by a steely Swanage defence.
Swanage scored first with a penalty, swiftly replied to by a penalty from David Choules.
Strong forward pressure by Swanage then led to a try, but the best move of the first half belonged to Chiltern, when play between Ryan Thomas and Dave Richardson led to the latter scoring under the posts with Choules converting for a 10-8 half time lead.
Swanage used the wind well in the second half with their strong pack creating good attacking positions. A penalty was followed by two converted tries to take their lead to 25-10.
Chiltern fought back through Richard Evans who scored a fine try, immediately followed by a try from Brian Richardson, converted by Choules.
With the score at 25-22, and Chiltern attacking, an upset was on the cards, until a Swanage breakaway led to a final penalty to complete the scoring.
Converted for the new archive on 30 June 2000. Some images and formatting may have been lost in the conversion.
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