JOHN VAUGHAN-DAVIES has vowed that Ashtead will bounce back after suffering the ignominy of relegation.
The Stags saw their stay in the Surrey Championship Division One come to an end on Saturday, despite a one-wicket victory against league champions Leatherhead.
Farnham's win at Camberley condemned them to the drop and the Stags' skipper admitted the players were gutted to be going down, just one year after narrowly missing out on promotion to the Premier Division.
He said: "It was a pretty numb feeling.
"We knew we had to rely on other results and we knew in all honesty that we were likely to go down, particularly with Farnham only needing to win.
"But it still hurts when it becomes reality and it is tough to take."
Vaughan-Davies said that at least Ashtead had gone down fighting, though, having beaten the runaway league champions in their own back yard on Saturday.
"It was a good win for us on Saturday and it is nice to beat the league champions," he said.
"But it was a bit hollow and it felt pretty meaningless knowing that we were down. We knew before we went out to bat that Farnham were looking likely to win and it made it quite hard for us to stay focused.
"We nearly messed it up again when they got the late wickets, but for once this season we did hold on in the run chase."
And Vaughan-Davies said the Ashtead players can take confidence from the victory, adding that he is hopeful the club can bounce back next season.
He said: "It is almost like a release of pressure now we know we are down.
"Although of course it is disappointing, we have to try to move on and make sure we bounce back next year.
"We know that we have everything in place here for Premier Division cricket at this club, but we have been lacking a bit of quality on the day this season.
"But we showed on Saturday what we can do with our full team out and I think with the experience of this year, we will bounce straight back.
"If we don't I would see it as a massive failure – going down now is bad enough, but to not bounce straight back would be even worse."
The skipper added that he was confident of keeping the squad together, adding that he believed there was a mentality among the group to put right the wrongs of this season.
He said: "We are the ones that have got into this position and I would hope that everyone is back next year to put it right.
"I think it is crucial that we all stay together and hopefully no one will jump ship.
"It would be disappointing to lose anyone.
"We have given several younger players the opportunity to play in the first team this year and hopefully that experience will help them in the seasons to come, starting with next year."
Meanwhile, the Stags skipper has called on his side to go out with a win this weekend against Camberley at Woodfield Lane.
He said: "I think it is important that we win this one to start turning the corner now.
"If we can get a win, we can build on that over the winter, train hard and hopefully take some momentum and hit the ground running next season."
