BRADFORD on Avon head coach Dave George admitted his players were "chuffed to bits'' to finish as runners up in Dorset & Wilts One North after a 50-0 thrashing of hosts Royal Wootton Bassett 2nd on Saturday.

Bradford ended in second place behind champions Corsham, aided by the deduction of 25 points from long-time occupiers that position Warminster, for rule infringements arising from fielding an unregistered player earlier in the season.

The conclusion is not expected to see Bradford promoted back to Southern Counties level, but George was delighted to see the campaign end with a flourish having been relegated at the end of last term.

"We'd have been happy to finish in third position, especially as Warminster have beaten us twice this season,'' said George. "But when the results came through on Saturday night to boys were chuffed to bits.

"You never know (about promotion, when the leagues are restructured in the summer), but we're planning for next season (in the same division). We've got a tour to my old club in Halifax coming up so that's a nice way to finish the season.''

Fly-half Sam Jones ran the show for Bradford at Bassett, scoring a try and kicking five conversions as the visitors hit the half-century mark.

Leo Robertson and Josh Felix added two tries apiece, while Lewis Somerville, Ross Dewar and Oli Bilton also touched down.

Warminster are counting the cost of an administrative error which robbed them of runners up spot, eventually relegating them to a fifth-placed finish.

The amber and blues ended their campaign with a 24-19 defeat at the hands of county rivals Melksham on Saturday.

The visitors made the better start with a try from fly-half Gavin Pratt, Rupeni Rokoduguni adding the conversion.

But Warminster lost their way and in a disastrous 15-minute spell shipped three tries to give Melksham a commanding lead.

Melksham fly-half Callum Hurn took a line through defending tacklers and stretched for the line before slotting the conversion to tie the scores before Ben Brown made a fine interception to score just a few minutes later, Hurn adding the extras.

Warminster were architects of their own downfall for the third as number eight Laisiasa Vinakadina threw a speculative pass that failed to find his teammate Solomoni Qaranivalu and Kieren Jenkins pounced for the score, Hurn again converting.

The Warminster fightback began with a try from replacement Kieran Chester before Rokoduguni grabbed their third try with a superb individual effort and conversion to get to within two points.

Melksham thought rallied and Hurn booted a penalty to confirm the hosts' victory.