There was an emphatic end to any lingering mathematical hopes of promotion for Holbeach United on Saturday as they suffered a 5-0 humbling at Harwich & Parkeston.
It was their heaviest defeat of the season and made it five games without a win. They now face trips to Whitton United and Haverhill Borough before concluding the season at home to Pinchbeck on Easter Monday.
Harwich led 3-0 at the interval but the Tigers struck back after the break. Ryan Cook, Pat Kacirek, Kyle Compton and Marley Hamilton failed to convert half chances and Hamilton also hit the crossbar.
They were made to pay for squandering those opportunities when the hosts hit a fourth, before adding a fifth with 13 minutes to go.
Despite missing out on promotion, it does look as though the Tigers will be in a different division next season. Current projections for the make-up of Step Six for the 2025/26 seasons forecast a switch back to the United Counties League for both Holbeach and Pinchbeck – swapping lengthy trips to Essex for ones to Louth in north Lincolnshire, Swallownest near Sheffield and Dronfield on the edge of the Peak District.
They would also be exchanging local derbies against Parson Drove, FC Peterborough and Whittlesey Athletic, with match-ups against Blackstones and Holwell Sports, near Melton in Leicestershire.
It does, however, offer a greater incentive for promotion to the Premier Division, where more local teams will be playing, including Bourne Town, Deeping Rangers, Wisbech Town, Boston Town, Sleaford Town and three Grantham sides.
Tigers: Simpson, Greenacre, Oldham, Roberts (Bassendine-Matthews), Ling, Carter (Ibeneme), Kacirek (Gadzia), Thorne, Compton, Hamilton, Cook.
Att: 135.
