Gordonians were relegated to National League 3 after failing short of saving their season in Dumfries and Galloway where they were well beaten 71-14 by Newton Stewart.
Needing to win their final three games, Gordonians fell at the first hurdle, and must now regroup and build on the young talent at the club, including the squad who made the trip to Newton Stewart.
Bevis Reid, the Gordonians director of rugby, was devastated by the outcome which sends the Countesswells side back down a division where they are near certain to renew hostilities will old adversaries Orkney who are on the cusp of promotion to the national leagues after topping Caley Division 1.
Reid said: “It was always going to be a difficult trip, particularly after a week of injuries to key players, while three players had to miss the game due to Covid.
“We battled well but were up against an organised Newton Stewart who were very mobile and played good running rugby.
“We tried to match them but just didn’t have the resources.”
The Countesswells side were up against it from the off against a Dumfries and Galloway outfit who were pushing to claim fourth place in the division, following a run of good form in recent weeks.
The home side ran in seven tries of which five were converted in the first half to lead 45-7 and although the visitors managed one of their own, attributed to centre Angus Winning and converted by stand-off Alex Fraser, a rout looked on the cards in the second half.
The northerners rallied, digging in to restrict their opponents to four tries of which three were added to while gaining some kind of consolation with a touchdown by Jarred While and again converted by the reliable Fraser.
Encouragingly the Aberdeen side kept their discipline, tackling well, while attempting to get their back division into the game but generally failing to get much change out of the solid Newton Stewart defence.
Winning was again a standout in the Gordonians back division, while Paul McIlroy was the pick of the forwards.
The 225-mile journey back home must have seemed a long one for the young Gordonians team to reflect on what when wrong in a season which had promised so much, especially after a resounding 30-5 defeat of league champions GHK in December.
Club president Matthew Brechin is already planning a comeback to National League 2, although there are still two league games to play this season against Falkirk at home and away to Whitecraigs.
He said: “This is very young team who will be hurting from the experience but will have learned from being relegated.
“There will be no panic. We’ll just get on with preparing to bounce back, but make no mistake it has been a bad season for rugby in Aberdeen with both ourselves and Aberdeen Grammar dropping down a league.
“Both clubs owe to their supporters to put on better performances next season.”
Highland prove to strong for Cartha Queen’s Park
Highland kept their bid for a top five place in National League 1 alive but only after a rousing half time talk by head coach Davie Carson, inspiring five tries to help the Canal Park side to a 47-17 win against Cartha Queens Park.
Despite leading 12-5 at the break, Highland’s lack of cohesion was unacceptable to Carson who said: “We looked nothing like a side who were attempting a high finish in the league.
“In fairness they rose to the challenge and played some great, attractive rugby in the second half.
“They can take a lot of credit after a really tough winter, much of it on the road.
“We are now enjoying a run of three home games and should we beat bottom side Boroughmuir next week, we will have achieved our objective of picking up three wins.
“A maximum next week would set us up nicely for our much trickier game away to Biggar to end our season.”
The stuttering first half led to two tries, attributed to Owen McDonald and Scott Fraser who also converted one, while the visitors took advantage of some Highland slackness to score one of their own.
The second half was an entirely different matter, as the Inverness side found their missing fluency, giving the Glasgow side the runaround, enabling the home side to add five tries, although two late touchdowns gave the plucky visitors some consolation.
The Highland side’s tries fell to Calum Carson, Craig Findlater, Patrick Ratumasese, Andrui Muritoki and Rory Cross.
Fraser added three more conversions, while Carson kicked the final one, giving the northerners a convincing win.
Orkney moved top of Caley Division 1 after running 16 tries past a hapless Glenrothes in a 98-8 win.
But the islanders must wait until next week to claim the title.
In the only game and final one played in Caley 2 North, Mackie and Ross Sutherland, dished up a thrillier at Redcloak, ending up 41-25 for the home side.