The sides were put out of their misery last weekend – Stirlands lost Hastings while Chichester Priory were beaten by league leaders Preston Nomads.

Both captains felt they competed well and with a few wins they could have been safe. And they remain confident of gaining promotion in their first season back in division one.

Stirlands captain Sean Heather said: "You expect to get beaten in the odd game, but we've competed in most of them.

"As individuals we've probably under-achieved, but as a team we have been very close to performing a lot better than we have."

Heather is looking to beat Chichester in the last game of the season – for local pride and to avoid taking the wooden spoon.

He is also hoping to reach a personal milestone – beating the league record for runs in a season which he set himself at 1,086 in 2004. He is 63 runs short.

Chichester Priory captain Jes Goode was also philosophical about going down.

He said: "Stirlands and us came up last year and thought it was going to be a competitive league.

"I would have thought we could have made the top half. The only thing that stopped us getting there was winning an extra few games.

"Next year we'll be better- equipped to come up. If you look at the teams who have done well they have used a nucleus of around 13 or 14 players, but we have used 20."

Goode said he was looking to improve on his side's first display against Stirlands earlier this season.

"It's the clash of the titans," he joked. "To be fair it's nice not to have to travel too far for the last game.

"We always look to get one over on them."