SWINDON College Old Boys coach Mark Roshier will always remember the season in which his side finished second in Berks/Bucks & Oxon Premier as both ‘enjoyable and impressive’.

The Nationwide club are likely to be promoted to Southern Counties rugby at the end a sensational season in which they only lost four times, but will have to wait until their promotion is rubberstamped by the RFU over the summer.

Old Boys finished fifth in their division last season, but Roshier has been impressed by their development and is already looking forward to being tested at a higher level.

“If I had to describe our season it would have to be enjoyable and impressive, because after last season we were a little disappointed with ourselves,” he said.

“After that we have understood more of what we have to do, and the players have been impressed with themselves and what they have managed to achieve.

“We lost twice to Stow and they were the class act in the league, and although our aim was to win the league we were very pleased to finish second because this is a league that is hard to get out of.

“I know that our team are more than capable, and we have strength in depth now so we are hopeful of staying up next season.”

The Swindon side lost twice to eventual champions Stow, but Roshier was impressed with his side’s performance on both occasions and highlighted the two matches as memorable moments.

“We had a lot of good wins, but it’s funny because the two most memorable games were the defeats against Stow,” he said.

“We may have lost, but the thing for me was the way we turned the second halves around because on both occasions we were 17 or 18 points down at the break and battled back to give them a run for their money.

“Those games proved we are big enough and strong enough to compete, and hopefully we might be able to turn them over next season.

“The Chipping Norton game was a turning point for us too because they were our rivals for second place, and we won the game and from then on we went on and finished above them.”

Roshier might have used more than 30 players throughout the season, but the Old Boys boss was quick to highlight the three experienced players who had kept his side ticking over during the campaign.

“The return of Greig O’Brien was a massive thing for us, and also the return of Matt McKee from long-term injury was really good because he played really well.

“Gareth Davies had another outstanding season as captain and was a very wise head, and the lads who either filled in or stepped up from the seconds were amazing.

“I think we used 35 players, and the second team are a lot stronger now which is great for the whole club going forward.”