MANAGERS Robbie Lakeman and Liam McConnell say they are satisfied with Laverstock and Ford’s progress this season, despite missing out on promotion.

Lavvy signed off their Division One campaign in fifth position.

For chunks of the year, they were in contention for promotion, especially with their formidable home form, where their unbeaten record at the Dell was broken in stoppage time on the last day of the season.

But inconsistency cost Lavvy, winning just one of their last six games.

“Obviously the disappointment comes with how we ended the season but that comes from a couple of key areas, missing key players through suspension and being away at important times and the naivety we have shown,” rued McConnell.

“All things considered, we can be happy with the season as a whole.”

“It was a new strategy that certainly worked in terms of bringing both Robbie and myself together.

“We set ourselves numerous objectives throughout the season; to finish top four was one of those aims so to narrowly miss out was disappointing but there is an awful lot of positives we can take from what we have accomplished.”

Lavvy’s highlight of the campaign was knocking rivals, Salisbury, out of the Hospital Cup in November.

That is a competition they got to the final in on Tuesday night at the Ray Mac against Amesbury Town but lost on penalties 4-2.

Tom Munday’s first-half strike was cancelled out by Danny Finnigan and it finished 1-1 at full-time and at the end of extra time.

“We did ourselves justice against higher opposition in the cup competitions, certainly a highlight was beating a strong Salisbury side at the Dell in the Hospital Cup. We should have done enough to qualify for the FA Cup for the first time in a long time so overall we are satisfied with what we have produced,” he added.

McConnell hopes to go one better next term, by joining the Blues in Wessex Premier.

The last time Lavvy were there was in 2011/2012.

He continued: “For us, we have to look at promotion as being our number one aim next season. Given how high we finished this season, to be in contention competing with Amesbury and Tadley for that second spot right up until April means we have the belief in the squad we can kick on. The league is going to be bigger and stronger next season, given the sides coming in to it and the so called ‘bigger’ clubs that are already looking to rebuild with financial backing."

“We are up to the challenge and are really excited at giving it another good shot.”