Whitehaven said farewell to their Championship status after a season of torment ended with relegation alongside county neighbours Workington Town.

It was of no consolation that Haven avoided bottom spot and consigned Town to that indignity.

The general feeling, before a ball was kicked, pointed to a tough battle to stay in the Division with Swinton and Oldham likely to be battling with the Cumbrian pair to avoid the drop.

In the end, that’s exactly how it played out with Haven heading Town by two points, but three points shy of Oldham and four behind Swinton.

Clearly matches involving those four clubs in straight head-to-heads would ultimately decide who would be jettisoned from the Championship.

After three opening defeats, Haven finally got off the mark with an 18-12 home win over Swinton which was the start of the Recreation Ground side’s best run of the season.

They followed-up with a fine 26-24 win at Sheffield and then a 24-16 derby victory at home to Workington Town, and when they were narrowly beaten 24-23 at Batley, it raised hopes that Haven were going to be competitive in the tough environment of the Championship.

Coach James Coyle was reasonably optimistic at this stage but injuries were starting to have an effect.

One of the biggest losses was that of Elliott Miller, enjoying a productive start to his Whitehaven career after his winter move from Town.

A 60-6 defeat at Leigh was disappointing, but given the Centurions power and domination of the competition, was not the end of the world.

A 16-12 home defeat by London Broncos followed and was actually a game that Whitehaven should have won, and as the season progressed, was one of the results that could have affected their survival hopes.

Coyle was feeling buoyant again after a 14-6 home win over Oldham to end April but May was to prove a disaster only brightened by the Summer Bash 28-24 win over Workington Town at the end of the month.

Before then there were four straight defeats, two of them at home, and a crucial one at Swinton. Dewsbury came to west Cumbria and won 36-16 in what was probably Whitehaven’s poorest display of the season.

Featherstone were also successful 44-22 while their loss at Swinton had been by 32-26.

London whipped them 62-4 ahead of the Summer Bash so bouncing back to beat bitter rivals Workington was a major plus and a boost to confidence.

A brave effort in a 36-12 defeat by Leigh was followed by a 12-12 draw with Halifax – another of the games to get away as the visitors levelled-up with a try and conversion with virtually the last action of the game.

Sadly that sparked a run of six defeats to complete the regulation season in the Championship, including 26-18 at Oldham and another last gasp sickener, 30-28 at Town. To add to the problems coach Coyle had intimated in early July, three games from the end, that he intended to stand down at the end of the season.

The Whitehaven board advertised the position but questions were being asked. Would Coyle get the full support of the players in light of his pending departure?

The run of defeats continued, two of them at the start of the Championship Shield, and the Haven board decided to dispense with Coyle’s services, handing over responsibility for team affairs to a four strong group – Carl Forster, Dave Allen, Scott McAvoy and Crag Calvert.

It almost proved an inspired decision for the first of the five remaining games against Town saw Haven respond magnificently and beat the old enemy 28-24 at Derwent Park. It ended a run of ten straight defeats.

Although the follow-up game at Halifax was lost, Haven then produced a remarkable performance to win 56-12 at Dewsbury, in which, they scored ten tries.

But there was heartbreak the following week when they lost 20-18 at Oldham, a defeat which condemned them to relegation and even a 40-18 final day victory over Swinton was no consolation.

But having won three of the last five games, after being put in charge, the four-man coaching team had caught the eye – especially Carl Forster who was sounded out about taking the job on a permanent basis, and he accepted.

Suddenly the mood changed at the Recreation Ground with Forster’s enthusiasm rubbing-off on the supporters and directors.

Pretty soon the squad was taking shape to face life in League One and the quality of the players retained or introduced has raised optimism for the 2017 season.

Season 2016 was a bad dream but Haven supporters expect a different outcome in the coming season with four pre-season friendlies arranged ahead of the first competitive game with Workington Town in the League One Cup on Sunday, February 19.