Pinchbeck United enjoyed a win in their final fixture for a while at step five of the non-league pyramid on Saturday.
The Knights finished off their United Counties League Premier Division campaign by beating AFC Mansfield 2-1 at the Sir Halley Stewart.
It put them level on points with second from bottom Hucknall Town, but they finish bottom after being unable to overturn their 42 worse off goal difference.
Some heavy defeats earlier in the season left them with a goal difference of -84 and bottom of the table despite winning six games, two more than Hucknall whose goal difference was twice as good.
On Saturday, at home to Mansfield the Knights took the lead through Flynn Slater on 39 minutes before Logan Tate scored a stunning 30-yard free kick in the second half.
AFC Mansfield netted a late goal but Pinchbeck held on for the win.
Manager Lewis Thorogood said: “It was good to finish on a high and it sets the standards for next season.
“We begin now to work on next season and our promotion push.
“We will be back and we will be fighting.”
The game marked 100 appearances for Nathan Stevens for the Knights despite only being 22 years old.
“We may have fallen short this season but this underpins our belief in young footballers in the non league game,” Thorogood said.
Knights: Cox, Fields, Nicholson, Wilkinson, Cranfield, Callaghan, Tate, Stevens, Slater, Robson, Kanu. Subs: Melson, H Wallace, A Wallace.
Attendance: 48
UNITED COUNTIES LEAGUE PREMIER DIVISION ONE NORTH TABLE
P W D L GD Ps
Sherwood 34 26 6 2 79 84
Lincoln Utd 33 23 1 9 30 70
L’boro Stud 33 21 6 6 51 69
Melton 33 21 2 10 34 65
Skegness 33 15 9 9 12 54
Sleaford 33 16 2 15 -5 50
Boston Tn 33 14 7 12 8 49
Deeping Rgr 33 13 8 12 13 47
Eastwood 32 13 8 11 -2 47
Ashby 33 13 3 17 -1 42
Newark 34 11 9 14 -4 42
Belper Utd 33 11 8 14 -18 41
Heanor 31 11 6 14 -9 36 *
Kimberley 32 10 5 17 -16 35
Wisbech 33 8 10 15 -6 34
Mansfield 33 8 4 21 -40 28
Hucknall 34 4 9 21 -42 21
Pinchbeck 34 6 3 25 -84 21
