Billy Johnson admitted he was “gutted” to be facing his first year in National League Two after Old Albanian’s relegation on Saturday.

The skipper was one of six try scorers in the 50-29 win over Tynedale at Woollams. The win was in vein, however, as Cinderford sealed OA’s fate with a 33-19, bonus-point victory over Esher, their fourth in a row.

“Gutted sums up my feelings pretty nicely,” said Johnson after the game.

“We gave ourselves every chance to stay up but results didn’t go our way. If you look at the games we lost over the season, there are four or five that we should have won. Then we’d have been in a better position and not fighting as hard as we had to.”

Despite the disappointment of going down, Johnson wants to take the positivity of the last two games into next season. OAs scored 101 points overall in win overs Darlington Mowden Park and Tynedale.

“We’ll take positively from last two games in to next season,” he said. “I think we have to go in with confidence. I don’t know what it’s like having never played in National Tow but I’m sure it will be tough.

“National One is tough and that will reflect into National Two. There will be more than one team wanting to get promoted.

“We’ll have to be one it but we can take confidence from the performances we have put in to come back up.”