Chairman Giles Hilton was in defiant mood after watching Canterbury Rugby Club’s season end in disappointment.

Saturday’s 25-18 defeat in their relegation showdown with Westcombe Park meant that Canterbury’s five-year stay in National 2 South is over and Mr Hilton (pictured) admitted: "It’s been a bad couple of weeks for the city, what with us and the men’s hockey team both being relegated.

"But I am hopeful that we will be able to bounce straight back next season and a number of our sponsors have already said they will be helping us to do that."

Looking ahead to the prospect of playing in National 3 London & South East, Mr Hilton added: "With Launceston and Redruth both being relegated to National 2 South next season, it means there would have been a lot more travelling which obviously puts more pressure on the players and club finances."

"And we have got plenty of reasons to be optimistic. We had a crowd of over 1,700 at Merton Lane on Saturday which shows the interest there is for rugby in this area and we also have a good crop of young players coming through."

But Mr Hilton admitted that it was perhaps time to be looking at restructuring the club. Whether that includes the position of coach Danny Vaughan remains to be seen.

After watching his side slip into the relegation zone for the first time this season, Vaughan admitted: "The league table doesn’t lie at this stage and we have just been too inconsistent this season.

"Then, when we had our chance to get out of trouble today, we blew it. Combe deserved to win because they were marginally better than us. The try they scored just before half-time was crucial."