IT was a season that promised much for Rhyl, but in the end it will be remembered for underachievement given the squad at their disposal.

Manager Niall McGuinness was replaced by Mark Connolly and then Matthew Jones, and they failed to recover from a sluggish start to life in the Huws Gray Alliance despite an encouraging second half of the campaign.

From the outside looking in, it appeared as if second tier football was a bit of a culture shock at first give that the majority of the squad are more familiar with the JD Welsh Premier League, but the encouraging thing from their standpoint is that despite their last two games resulted in losses they did improve their form gradually.

There is little doubt that it is going to be a huge summer at the Corbett Sports Stadium, but there is a nucleus within the Lilies’ squad that will need to be kept on, so that Jones can build a squad around them to give the club the best possible chance of succeeding.

A club with the history and following of the Lilywhites’ deserves to be plying their trade in the top flight, but nothing is given to you and they will have to earn their spot just like everyone else in a hugely competitive HGA, which they discovered to their cost at times during the season.

They deserve credit for having the courage to make changes at all levels of the club to give them plenty of stability going forward, and hopefully for them this will transition on to the field as they look to secure promotion at the second time of asking next year.

Rhyl may be looking at their lowest ever domestic finish in Welsh football, but the likes of goalkeeper Rory Crowther, defender Tony Davies, midfielder Stewart Carroll and the ever-impressive Connolly can be proud of the commitment and quality they showed on a consistent basis throughout the campaign, and if they convince this foursome to re-sign then they are sure to be amongst the favourites for the title next term.

The young boss has plenty of work on but there are few better qualified, and he has already demonstrated the right temperament in critical and pressure-filled stages of games which has been a huge learning curve for Jones.

He will be much more aware of what to expect this time around, and this will be another boost for a club that flattered to deceive and showed what they are truly capable of in equal measure.