IT was a fitting conclusion to a fruitful season for Amesbury Town.

The Blues secured their highest ever finish, fourth place, with a ruthless 4-2 win over New Milton Town in Wessex Division One.

Robert Teppett put the visitors in the driving seat but the lead didn’t last long as Nic Turpin hit back with a simple header. From then on, it was all Amesbury.

Industrious Craig Wheeler scored a humdinger – an audacious bicycle-kick dipped in under the bar ten minutes before the break. The hosts stayed on top and mid-way through the half Amesbury had pulled the plug on their visitors with two goals in eight minutes.

Cameron Roach poked home Danny Finnigan’s thread through and then Lewis added his second and Amesbury’s fourth by cutting through on the right-hand side and unleashing past a static Tom Rees.

Morgan Turner converted a consolation late on to conclude the six-goal thriller at a sunny Bonnymead Park.

Manager Gareth Horner said: “Take nothing away from the players, everyone who has contributed this year has been

brilliant and played a part in a great season for the club. This time last year we were shouting from the rooftops about finishing tenth!

“It’s progress, the hope is to retain as many players as possible although it wouldn’t surprise me to see some bigger clubs come in for a couple.

“However, we have a great team spirit, something you don’t just build overnight and hopefully the players can see that.

"I will look to make some additions in the summer in certain areas and hopefully we will be in the mix again next year, but a lot will happen between now and

August.”

Last month, Blues were in a with a terrific chance of contending for the title but four consecutive losses saw them drift away from the chasing pack.

“Some may say that we have under-achieved and I can understand that,” Horner added.

“We were in the race until the middle of March but as I kept repeating it’s a long season.

"We needed to get a run of wins together to really push the pack but unfortunately we were a bit stop-start and have suffered with injuries, players unavailabilities and suspensions at crucial times this year.”

The team are going on a pre-season break to Magaluf.