DARRAN Brown has expressed his desire to continue as head coach of Slough RFC after admitting his involvement in a match-fixing scandal was a moment of madness.

The Greenies were punished by the Rugby Football Union (RFU) for colluding with Chipping Norton and referee Rob Hawkins to jointly fix the result of a Berks, Bucks & Oxon Premier match earlier this year.

Brown was slapped with a 20-week suspension by the RFU and suspended by Slough pending an internal investigation at the end of the season.

Brown admits his actions were naive, but as his coaching ability is not under scrutiny, he hopes Slough will back him to finish a five-year project.

“Absolutely I would like to carry on,” he told the Observer. “I wanted to see us move up into South West One East as I believe we should be there.

“Obviously you have to earn the right to be anywhere in any league, but Slough is a proverbial sleeping giant.

“I would like to be a part of that whichever way, but I also respect the club’s decision if they decide to look at alternatives - that is their prerogative.

“But in terms of rugby, it has not hindered my passion to carry on coaching.

“Now that the situation regarding the club’s own future within the BBO Premier has been resolved, there will be a time for Matt Harris [Slough chairman] and I to have a conversation and see where we lie.”

He added: “There are several factors to consider. There are players’ viewpoints and how they feel and see things going forward, but it is important for me to stress my coaching is not under question, nor my credentials as a coach.

“It is up to the club whether or not to look at alternatives and whether they want to move forward with someone else, or we put this behind us and move forward together.

“For me there is an age-old saying, there is a right decision and an easy decision, and it would be for the club and myself to decide which way around that is.”

The punishments relate to the league fixture at Chipping Norton on February 6. The game was postponed due to bad weather, but Slough and their hosts agreed to a 24-24 draw, with both sides scoring four tries for maximum bonus points.

The result was signed off by referee Hawkins and sent to the league. Hawkins has since retired following the outcome of the RFU inquiry.

Commenting on the RFU punishment, Brown argued: “We are all volunteers and my concern was that the club didn’t suffer, certainly with a financial penalty.

“The RFU could have levied a big fine that may have put Slough under huge financial pressure which wouldn’t have been the right thing for anybody.

“The RFU deemed that the panel should look at a higher level of punishment and if you consider the facts, I suppose you can’t argue. But there are individuals involved in this and people make mistakes.

“It was a mistake there is no denying that. I can easily sit here and say I should have done this or that, but for me I think the punishments were harsh.”

Brown continued: “I think any new flexibility should be geared towards teams not feeling under pressure to come up with a result, and that may have led to this decision.

“Whether there can be any extra support, only the RFU can answer that. We can all say how many different options there could be, but they are the governing body who set the rules and laws of our game. We have to stick to those.”