PRINCES Risborough ended a season spent gulping for air with their heads above water after a final-day victory over Phoenix.
The 28-19 win sent their opponents down in their place and club president Terry Dillon said his players were good value for the last-gasp reprieve.
He said: “I’m over the moon for the squad.
“They’ve stuck at it through thick and thin and taken some pastings, but no one has walked away. No one’s head has gone down at all.”
This was only Risborough’s third season in existence. Promotion in their first two years set an upward trend, but a league restructure last summer effectively meant a two-divisional jump into the BB&O Premier Division.
Two games unbeaten at the start of the campaign suggested another year moving forward, but the going quickly got tougher and Drifters, Bicester, Thatcham and Chipping Norton, twice, all put more than 50 points on them during the season.
It all meant they reached the final day in a Super Saturday of fixtures, with the bottom four all playing each other and two of them going down come the final whistle.
Dillon said: “If Hungerford beat Littlemore with a bonus point we’d have to get one too. We had to beat their result to be absolutely certain.
“Every single player turned up even if they weren’t playing and we had one of our biggest crowds of the season there.
“Before the game you could have cut the air, but the relief at the end was outstanding. It was such a weight off everyone’s minds after putting all that effort in.”
England Deaf international Liam Roads and prop Daniel Cuadrado scored the tries as Risborough – and Hungerford after their 22-10 win at Littlemore – ended the season with a huge sigh of relief.
Dillon said: “I’m calling it eighth as opposed to third from bottom. It was a monstrous step up for us, but we held our own ...just.”
Meanwhile, the focus now is on next season and a £10,000 grant from Sport England will at least provide the club with outdoor training facilities in Risborough instead of travelling to Aylesbury.
