Sheerness East suffered relegation from the Vandanel Kent County League Premier Division following two defeats in three days.

East lost 1-0 at Rusthall on Saturday and followed that up with a 2-1 defeat at Hollands & Blair – who were duly crowned champions – on Monday.

Manager Dave Down (pictured right) said: "It’s never nice to get relegated but I can’t fault my players’ effort and enthusiasm.

"We didn’t have a strong enough squad at the start of the season but fortunately it has improved in the last two months and we’ve done much better.

"We gave ourselves a fighting chance but unfortunately we left it too late.

"We took so long to get our first point and when you get on a run like that it’s hard to dig yourself out of it as the players were lacking in confidence.

"We’ll be a lot stronger next year and I’ve already started putting the feelers out for next season."

East complete their season at home to Orpington on Saturday.

"The players will be well motivated like they have been all season," said Down. "The players want to finish on a high and we’ll go into our final game all guns blazing."