TENBURY finished with an eight-match winning streak to seal the Midlands Five West (North) title but captain Ed Gough insisted there was still room for improvement.

Callum Spires (2), Ben Spires, James Martyn-Smith and Claude Celton got the tries in a 41-17 win at Aldridge with Gough kicking all five conversions and two penalties.

The success over a side that had been unbeaten on home soil resulted in Tenbury taking top spot by a point ahead of Market Drayton, who won 17-16 in the other promotion showdown at Greyhound.

But while perfectionist Gough felt carefree after sealing the glory, his joy was laced with a thought that the performance might have been more polished.

“Aldridge had been unbeaten at home so it was a big ask to go there and win,” said Gough.

“Realistically, we knew we would have to win it with a bonus point if we wanted to be champions. Promotion was the main objective so it was a case of trying to win first and foremost.

“To be fair, they threw everything at us and it felt a lot closer than the score suggests. All four teams have been well matched, any of us could have won on our day so it was really pleasing.

“In the end, we stayed unbeaten from October. We played some pretty good stuff, even if we were nervous in patches, and established a good lead by half-time.

“We were over the moon to have three tries by half-time. They really came back at us and got to within seven points but we kicked on again and they ran out of energy.

“If it had been an ordinary game, there would have been parts of our game to feel disappointed with but we did score some really nice tries.

“All of that aside, we got promoted so we were not too worried. We are looking forward to next season now with more games and bigger challenges. It should be good fun.”