PROUD Cleobury Mortimer captain Will Bache said his team must now focus on winning Midlands 4 West (North) after narrowly losing the Midlands Junior Vase final.

Cleobury fell just eight points short, losing 23-15 to Rugby Lions.

“We’re disappointed that we haven’t made it into the national competition, but I couldn’t be prouder of the players” said Bache.

Cleobury were trailing 20-0 at the break, but a rallying cry at half time gave them the impetus to claw their way back into the game.

Two tries from Dave Shorter, and a conversion and a penalty from Dave Leach saw the visitors pull the scores back to 20-15.

But it proved to be too little too late.

“We missed a few tough kicks in the first half which could have changed the course of the game if they’d gone over," said Bache.

"We then conceded a soft penalty at 20-15 to allow them to extend their lead, but I’m not blaming anyone or moaning about the defeat.

"We’re all disappointed with the loss but we’ve got to be proud of what we’ve done.

"It’s a dream to have made it so far.”

Bache says he now wants his players to focus on their league campaign which sees them leading the Midlands 4 West (North) by six points.

“We’re close to becoming league champions for the first time ever," said Bache.

"We’ve got to quickly forget about the cup defeat and make sure we carry on our league form.”

Cleobury entertain strugglers Greyhound this weekend, knowing a big bonus-points win could wrap up the league title.

“It was our dream to get to the final of the Midland Junior Vase, but the league is our bread and butter," said Bache.

"Our aim at the start of the season was to win it, and hopefully we can do that."