SWANAGE & Wareham head coach Keith Tomes admitted some of his players had enjoyed the brutal learning curve of South West One East more than the championship-winning campaign of 2014-15.

Swans closed a difficult season with a 74-9 loss at champions Towcestrians, leaving them bottom of the table and a near-certainty to be relegated when the Rugby Football Union finalises the ups and downs in the regional game.

With a record of three wins in 26 matches, Swans' record is far removed from that of their Southern Counties South-winning season, in which they won all but one of their fixtures and hit the 100-point mark in the standings.

But Tomes says the figures presented by the table this campaign do not tell the full story.

He told the Daily Echo: "One or two of the players have said they have enjoyed this season more than the last because it's been a challenge rather than beating sides by 60 or 70 points. It's nice to hear they are not disheartened.

"It has not shown the gap between the divisions as much as you would think. Although our record wouldn't suggest it, we have been competitive in games.

"I think the difference is if you make mistakes at this level, the sides punish you big style, especially the ones at the top of the league,

"Four or five of the tries on Saturday were as a result of little mistakes from us that they pounced on and before we knew it, we were on our own line."

Tomes is expecting a tough challenge next term and predicts the standard will give Swans a much sterner test than last time they were in Southern Counties South.

He added: "We are not going to take anything for granted because I believe Southern Counties South has been stronger this season than it was last season.

"We have Charlie Rowberry and Joe Desmond coming back from New Zealand and there are a few good under-17s and under-18s players we will blood, so there are a lot of green shoots there.

"Although it doesn't look like we've had a very successful season, we're very hopeful."

Nine points from the boot of Phil Graves proved only a consolation as Swans were outclassed by Towcestrians.

Graves slotted an early penalty and after Towcestrians replied with an unconverted try, Graves kicked three further points.

The home three-quarter line then began to show its considerable pace and power and four minutes before the interval, they had added three further tries.

On the stroke of half-time, Graves kicked his third penalty to reduce to 31-9 the advantage.

Towcestrians put to the sword their opponents after the interval.

The hosts led 50-9 with 10 minutes played of the second half and they added another 24 unanswered points to their total before the final whistle.

Swans: Smith, Adkins (Spencer, 44), Parry, D Elford, Young, Graves, C Tomes, Sheldrake, R Elford, Wyburgh, Collins, Andrews (Audley, 40), Ford, Harwood, Jones.