AFTER a season that saw Malvern first XV wobble a bit in the middle, the team has pulled out the stops in the latter part of the season.

This renewed energy has seen them finish in third place in Midlands West two with a fine victory over second-placed Derby, who were promoted after the play-offs.

As he looked back on the season's efforts, Malvern's director of rugby David Robins was pleased with the way the rebuilding year had gone.

Robins said: "Transition periods are notably difficult, many clubs finding that relegation is the accompanying factor. However, our time in Midlands One had given us a good basis for rebuilding. Whilst some of our old hands were happy to move down a side, they were still around at crunch times to guide the younger players. Indeed, one or two had a new lease of life, notably Andy Longley, who was the top kicker in the league despite only playing for two thirds of the season. We blooded some young players with great potential, products of our youth development programme and were always capable of a top three position, even during the dark mid-season period when we lost five out of six.

"Coach Paul Essenhigh and his deputy Gareth Richards have helped to rebuild the spirit in the squad, which is evident in the way the players are there for each other. Derby and Bromsgrove were too strong for the rest of the league and deserved their promotion, but I believe we have set a marker to the rest for next season. Not that it will be easy to meet our aim of promotion, with Burton, Leamington and Old Coventrians added to the existing contenders.

"We have nobody leaving the squad, whilst we are actively recruiting to strengthen it. We suffered last season from not having a strong second XV, which we are addressing, with Henry O'Brien volunteering to manage it and Vince Hill standing as captain.

We look to add some of the grunt factor into the first team pack, where we suffered from a lack of size, although we have a finely balanced back row to work with already. Our backs will be augmented by the return of Rob Young from Texas, where he has been top try scorer last season, including seven in one game.

"We continue to bring on our young players and should be running an U19 side for the first time in some years."

With the possibility of adding to the coaching staff, Robins believes that Malvern are poised to mount a return to Midlands One next campaign.