ALTHOUGH St Albans Centurions ended the season with their heaviest defeat of the summer on Saturday, August 17, the club can look back on a period of considerable progress.

Nine wins and a draw from 14 matches took them to within touching distance of the national semi-finals, and although they did not actually win the East Division, most spectators who followed the campaign would agree they should have.

On the back of this success, there was always going to be a comedown of sorts from their trip to Leicester.

With three tight matches between the two sides this season, the required winning margin (50-odd points) if Centurions were to stand any chance of making the semi-finals always seemed fanciful.

Their chances were not helped by unavailability, with half the first team either injured or working.

The patched-up team battled well during a first-half which ended 16-12, but once several more front-liners left the action through injury in the second half, St Albans faded in sweltering heat.

The first try came after eight minutes when one of the debutants and second team stalwarts, centre Richard Checkley, broke down the right to give the Centurions good field position. Scrum-half Ben Hutchinson then fed stand-off Steve Toon, who sent one defender away with a shoulder dip before outpacing Nigel Arismendez to touch down.

Led by some heroic play by man-of-the-match Matt Saunders, St Albans were still in the game when full-back Conor Kinnear went over from close range.

But a lack of experience and cohesion would eventually catch up with them, and by the time Centurions added a third try when Greg Vincent capitalised on a Phoenix fumble to touch down from Hutchinson's trademark crossfield kick their hosts had scored seven.

Vincent's last-gasp effort took the ever-present Kiwi winger level with Miller as the side's top try-scorer this season with nine, but the context of the match was unchanged.

"We didn't really have a chance, looking at the side we put out," admitted club skipper Lee Parkin. "But I have to thank the lads who came up from the second team to play in a really tough game and stood up to be counted."

Said Centurions spokesman Gavin Willacy: "The players have been fantastic to get within two wins of a national semi-final is a remarkable achievement considering they have not had a coach all season.

"We've already had one meeting about putting a lot of things in place for next season to ensure that off the pitch we are as good as we are on it."

That meeting was held with a view to joining the National Division Three next April. A final decision has not yet been made, although Willacy has said any probable stumbling blocks were administrative rather than player-related.

August 23, 2002 10:30