AFC Bournemouth Women were defeated 5-0 away at Exeter City in their final game of the season on Sunday. 

Steve Cuss' side found themselves 3-0 down at half-time, before the hosts added a further two goals in the second half. 

He reflected on the game and the season with afcb.co.uk following the weekend's final fixture. 

"We're disappointed. It's not how we wanted to finish the season, but it has been a really successful campaign overall," he said.

"Our performance levels weren't quite at where they were in previous games and, against a good Exeter side, we were well beaten. 

"I think it's been a really memorable season and one we can all be proud of. We went into the National League and didn't know what it would bring, but we've really enjoyed it.

"It's been full of fantastic experiences, good competitive games and we've done really well to finish where we look like we might finish." 

"Every week has brought a new challenge and we've spoken at length about that new challenge each week. It's part of the experience of playing at a higher level. Fair play to the players, I think we've adjusted and adapted to the league really well and overcome a lot of those challenges.

"It's part of the learning process for the players, we'll learn from Sunday and all the experiences from the season. We just want to keep improving and keep driving this team forward." 

Cuss continued to discuss the progress his side have made since September, including the development of under-16s and the mix of experienced players who have joined the club.  

"It's something that we targeted in the summer. We felt like we needed a few more experienced players to go alongside our really successful youth programme that continues to develop first team players.

"From our point of view, it's a continuation to keep allowing younger players to come into that environment if they can play.

"We've had some really good examples of that this year, with 16 or 17 year olds really enjoying that experience.

"We've had experienced players as well to come along and balance it out and that's something that has been really good for us. It's probably something that we'd be looking to continue."