James Strickley and Rhys Ford found the net as Bels collected the points required to leapfrog Crowland and extinguish their fears of the drop.

Manager Martin Conneely, who is stepping down at the end of the season, said: "It has taken a while to convince the players they can be as good as virtually anyone in this league but they are now believing it.

"Sports had Jamie Graham out so they didn't come to roll over, but our boys wanted the points badly and it is a big relief to get them.

"The priority has always been to make sure I can hand over to Paul Downes for next season in the top flight and I'm delighted that is now the case."


CROWLAND now have to sweat on the three remaining results of Oundle to discover their fate.

Oundle returned to the basement after a 2-1 home defeat against Pinchbeck which brought a fine run of three straight victories to an end.

Danny Clifton's men still need to collect two points to hop above Crowland and send Peter Harrison's side down.

Oundle have a trip to Pinchbeck sandwiched by home and away clashes against Hampton ahead. Clifton said: "The easiest opportunity on paper to get the points we need has gone, but we have to stick together and keep working at it.

"We have enjoyed doing things the hard way this season and that is how it is going to have to be again.

"We didn't prepare right, we didn't perform well and basically didn't turn up, so we have to forget about this and move on."

Oundle were dealt a blow when keeper James Chambers went down with illness minutes before kick-off. A couple of Steve Wells goals did the trick for Pinchbeck with Kieron Currie hitting the Oundle strike.

Pinchbeck boss Tony Wells said: "It was a very good result given what was at stake for Oundle and taking into consideration the fact we hadn't played for three weeks.

"I hadn't seen the table for a while and didn't realise quite how crucial a game it was, so I'm very pleased to have got the points."


WIMBLINGTON unearthed a hot new talent during their 2-1 win over Deeping Sports.

Perry Walton marked his rise into the club's first team with a smart goal and his performance caught the eye of Chris Bartlett.

He said: "Perry is a young lad of 19 who has a good left foot and a lot of potential.

"He is a player we think can make the step up into the first team and he did very well.

"We were missing players who have scored 42 goals between them and it is difficult to overcome that for any team, so coming out on top was very pleasing."

Martin Porter put Wimblington ahead before Walton doubled the lead. Carl Griffiths cut Deeping's arrears but boss Simon Dethick was left to reflect on a disappointing afternoon.

"It was one of those days," he said. "We had the chances but couldn't put them away.

"Wimblington have done the double over us now and it is due to their work-rate and commitment."