RFU Championship Relegation play-offs: Birmingham & Solihull 14 Moseley 23

The Season That Never Quite Was reached its logical conclusion for Birmingham & Solihull as they slipped, comatosed out of the Championship and into the hinterland that is the community game.

And such is the malaise that has afflicted a team, which in the last eight months has specialised in the Near Miss, that on the day they needed any sort of Hit, they all but forgot to let go of the arrow.

Yes, they led 7-0 after nine minutes but that was more to do with Moseley’s attacking deficiencies rather than anything constructive Bees put together themselves. And so it was throughout.

Once Simon Hunt had picked the visitors’ pocket and taken his interception 60m to the Moseley line, one expected the hosts’ nerves to settle.

Yet for all their frenzied commitment there was an anxiety that underpinned everything they did and while they were arguably the better side between the 22s, in the zone where games are won and lost - they were hopeless.

Fumbles, penalties and botched set-pieces abounded, which meant whenever they had edgy Moseley under pressure, the tension was defused without the visitors having to do anything heroic.

It’s been the same all season and is not only the reason why their level two status was under threat in the first place but also the reason why they lost it in the final analysis.

It would be wrong to blame individuals for the collective failing but the absence of a reliable centre partnership that has cost them so much this season, cost them once again as any semblance of rhythm was coughed up without dispute.

And if he can bear to watch this match back director of rugby Russell Earnshaw will also probably note an absence of leadership from his half-backs.