Nantwich Town have been relegated from the Northern Premier League despite a final day victory at home against play-off chasing Radcliffe Borough.
The Dabbers did what they needed to do with a 2-1 victory thanks to two second half goals.
But they needed Atherton Collieries to lose at home to already doomed Stalybridge Celtic in order to avoid the drop.
And Atherton managed to fight back and claim a dramatic 3-3 draw, sending Nantwich down by just one point.
It’s a disappointing end to a disappointing campaign for Nantwich who never managed to find any sort of consistency.
Results did improve under new manager Paul Carden, but the damage was done earlier in the campaign and fellow relegation battlers also began to pick up vital wins.
Radcliffe, who also missed out on the play-offs, took the lead at the Swansway Stadium in the 29th minute through Jake Thompson.
Nantwich staged a fine second half come-back, firstly drawing level on 54 minutes through Dan Cockerline who was sent through by Sean Cooke before calmly slotting past the keeper.
Fifteen minutes later, Nantwich were ahead when Connor Evans latched on to a ball over the top, shrugged off his marker and fired home.
The close to 800 fans were jubilant as they tried to stay in contact with the Atherton game, who moments after Nantwich took the lead went 3-2 behind at Stalybridge.
But Nantwich hopes of a great escape were snuffed out a few minutes later when Atherton levelled their match in the 79th minute.
Manager Carden said after the game: “I’m going to be working hard this summer to put together a squad to make us competitive.
“This club is a great club and we will be back.”
Meanwhile, it was the final game for Nantwich Town stadium announcer Mark Brisbourne who has stepped down from the role.
Mark has been the announcer and DJ for the past 10 years, entertaining supporters with pre match music and signature celebration themes.
He is relocating to join his partner in Stalybridge, although he did say he won’t be changing his allegiance and will be supporting Nantwich from afar and coming back to visit.
Nantwich chairman Jon Gold said: “Mark has brought some real quality to our matchdays and really enhanced the occasions and has become part of the fabric of the club.
“I remember his first game, which was the pre-season friendly against Crewe in 2013.
“Since then he has helped us celebrate on many memorable and historic occasions and also a few disappointments.
“So he will leave a large void in our fantastic team of media volunteers.
“I am sure all of our supporters will join us in thanking him sincerely for the incredible contribution that he has made and we all wish him the very best for his new life in Stalybridge and he knows he is always welcome back at the Swansway Stadium in the future.”
(pics and additional words by Jonathan White)
Good final game but our poor performance throughout the season came back to bite us.
We can all offer reason’s why in retrospect but we our where we our,so let’s hope the management get the resources they need to rebuild the side and allow us to challenge for promotion next season