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SOUTHEND Rugby Club ended their first ever season in National League Two with 27-23 defeat at Stourbridge on Saturday.

The Seasiders, who finished eighth in the table following the reverse, more than matched the high flying hosts for the majority of the match.

And coach Kevin Harman believed his side could easily have upset the West Midlanders.

"We should've won really," said Harman. "We played well but what cost us the game was that we couldn't manage the contact area.

"We didn't adjust to the referee's take on things and that resulted in yellow cards to Nick Pay and Richard Gill.

"Then when we were down to 14 men we found it hard. The referee was inconsistent, which didn't help, but it can't take away from what was a good performance.

"Stourbridge are a strong side, they still had a chance of automatic promotion going into this game compared to us who were playing for pride.

"But we did well, we had an 18-year-old and two lads aged 20 in the back row and it shows how bright the future can be here if we manage everything correctly."

The defeat brought Southend's season to a close but, after winning National League Three South last season, Harman has been delighted by the way his team have dealt with the step-up.

"There is a big difference in the levels and the players have done superbly," he said.

"We have earned the respect of other teams in this league with our play and it's certainly been another good year."

Southend also started their season with a narrow defeat to Stourbridge back in September but this time around they gave their hosts a real fright and took the lead in just the fourth minute with a penalty from Andrew Frost.

The narrow advantage did not last long though and the home-side went ahead when the Seasiders lost possession, enabling second row Alistair Muldowney to ground the ball in the left hand corner five metres out from the touch line.

The distance was too far for the conversion leaving the score at 5-3.

Southend soon took the lead again with a further penalty from Frost and they then extended that advantage even further when Tyson Lewis scored a fine try.

The speedy winger made a dash from the half-way line, outpacing his opposite number, and making the try line in style.

Frost kicked the conversion to make it 13-5 to Southend but two minutes into added on time Stourbridge came back into the game with a penalty from Alastair Bressington.

They continued the comeback after the break, with a try from outside centre Gregory King, which was converted by Bressington in the 44th minute and only seconds later the home-side went over again with Bressington scoring a try.

He again converted and then did the same in the 56th minute to put his side 27-13 ahead.

In reply, Southend started to turn things around with a try from Gill which Simon Hoult converted.

Hoult then added a penalty to bring his side to within four points of the home side but despite a huge team effort to maintain possession from the Seasiders, Stourbridge held on to secure the win, but with Otley and Manchester but also winning they were denied promotion.

Southend: Hoult, Lewis, Billings, Green, Frost (Vaughan 58), Johnston, Powell, Guess, Pay (Greer 80), I Cook, McClintock, Waring, Gill, Johnson (Irvine 42), S Cook (Legge 52) >PROP Michael Guess and back row Daniel Legge played their final matches for Southend at Stourbridge on Saturday.

The duo will now both be leaving Warners Bridge.

9:00am Tuesday 29th April 2008

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