Chris Dengate has left his position as head coach of Dover Sharks.

The decision was made by mutual consent after a meeting between Dengate and Dover’s director of rugby Mark Finnis in Canterbury on Sunday night.

Sharks were beaten 24-13 at Cobham on Saturday, a result which left them in the bottom three of London 1 South but Dengate said he had no inkling his position was under review.

However, he admitted once the club had made their intentions clear, he agreed it was best for both parties that he left.

The coach, whose team have won just two of their 15 matches – both at home – said: “I was asked to attend a meeting with Mark on Sunday and he told me the club wanted to go in another direction.

“It was a bit of a shock but I couldn’t see the point in hanging around where I wasn’t
wanted.

“It’s disappointing because I feel the job is only half done. I don’t think I could have done any more than I have but it’s the club’s decision and once they’d decided they wanted a change, I agreed it was probably for the best if I agreed to go.”

Dengate has been at Crabble for three-and-a-half years, initially working with the club’s development squad before progressing to the first team where he worked under and then succeeded Graham Tonks last December.

Dengate, who said goodbye to the players at training on Tuesday night, added: “It’s a fantastic club with some fantastic people and I hope they stay up, I really do.”

Danny Vaughan, who was brought in as Dengate’s assistant last summer, has now been put in charge of the first team and Mr Finnis said the club felt they had to act to preserve their London 1 status.

He said: “We’re fighting for survival and if we carry on doing the same thing without trying to change things, it shows a sign of resignation that we’re going to go down.

“I still think we're good enough to stay in the league, hopefully we can structure things to give the team all the help we can.”

Mr Finnis said the club appreciated all the work Dengate had put in at Crabble, adding: “I don’t doubt Chris is a good coach and I’m pretty sure he’ll walk into another job somewhere else.”

New coach Vaughan will be assisted by Martyn Beaumont, who is back at his hometown club after leaving National 2 South Canterbury.