NCE Premier Division Final position 15th (P42 W11 D12 L19 F68 A81 GD-13 Pts45)

It was not a glorious return to Clayborn for former manager Eric Gilchrist as his side finished lower mid-table in the Baris Northern Counties East League Premier Division but Rome was not built in a day and the boss is back for the long term.

A 15th-place finish was definitely not what Gilchrist was predicting when his side were hovering just under the halfway mark towards the end of October.

The boss said at the time that anything other than the top ten would be a disappointment.

A return of just 45 points from 42 games was a disappointment to him but it was certainly enough to secure the club’s top-flight status.

It will be a platform from which Gilchrist can build, and he has a good track record of bringing quality players in.

There was also little cheer from the cup competitions as Sedge exited the FA Cup at the extra preliminary round stage, even though they had a home tie, and went out of the FA Vase at the second hurdle following a costly trip to the north east to take on Shildon.

One highlight of the campaign was a 5-3 win at Evo-Stik Division One Garforth Town in the first round of the West Riding County Cup.

But it led to one of the lows as Sedge were beaten 7-0 at home by FC Halifax Town in the next round.

Gilchrist typically took the positives from that match against a full-strength Conference North side, and Sedge will probably end up with a pre-season friendly against their neighbours, who have since earned promotion to the Conference Premier, so it will have been a worthwhile experience.

Sedge’s battle-weary players gained some positive results against the leading sides in their own division, which is encouraging.

Many of the defeats were by the odd goal or after Sedge had taken an unexpected lead, so Gilchrist knows he does not have to rip it all up - more that he will have to make a few fine adjustments.