Spalding United’s hopes of staying in Evo-Stik NPL East Division have received two shots in the arm.
Their fate is now back in their own hands after a last-gasp Loughborough Dynamo goal saw them defeat 19th-placed Carlton Town 2-1 on Tuesday night – meaning the Tulips are two points clear of the bottom two with three games left to play.
But, after AFC Mansfield announced they would be taking demotion from the division this year due to their ground not meeting the required grading standards, it now seems likely that only one team will be relegated this season.
Spalding themselves have been given until July 1 to complete the required updates to the Sir Halley Stewart Playing Field, with the ground passing the grading on the proviso that the outstanding work is done to the required standard.
If one side does go down, the Tulips are four points clear of basement side Gresley.
Boss Matt Easton has had no official confirmation that just one side will be relegated ahead of tough Easter fixtures at Markse United on Saturday (3pm) and at home to Brighouse Town on Monday (3pm).
And he admits that any points would be good points for the Tulips over the long weekend.
“There’s a bit of confusion over what happens now,” admitted the Spalding supremo. “I would presume that just one will go down.
“I’ve got no idea how they’ll work things, so we have to treat the situation as the same and plough on.
“Let’s be honest, last Saturday (2-0 home loss to Loughborough) wasn’t great.
“The only positive is that we didn’t lose by more and take a hit on our goal difference.
“We’re in a tough spot, but we won’t be that bad again. However, any points we get now are good points really.
“Marske away is as difficult as it gets outside of the top couple of teams and it’ll be hard to get a strong squad to make the long trip.
“Monday is also very hard, but I’m hopeful we’ll have a stronger squad then.”
Jack Fixter, Jenk Acar and Charlie Hart are all suffering with injuries.
