Sandhurst Town and Berks County relegated on tense final day of Combined Counties League

Sandhurst Town and Berks County have been relegated from the North and South Premier Divisions of the Combined Counties League.

The Fizzers needed to match Chipstead’s result in the South Division to stay up – unfortunately they were away to champions elect Jersey Bulls where they were beaten 1-0.

A creditable result when you consider a monster 1,800 crowd – larger than some in the National League – and a team with a +81 goal difference.

It was results elsewhere then that would seal Sandhurst’s fate. First Balham came away from their game with Sheerwater with a 4-0 win, while crucially Chipstead ended a run of four games without a win to beat Abbey Rangers 2-1 and avoid a second successive relegation.

For Berks County, the margins for staying up were much tighter, but the situation no less tense.

Having completed their league fixtures at the end of March, the Swords have had to sit and wait patiently while everyone else caught up. Having seen Edgware & Kingsbury claw themselves to safety and Risborough Rangers needing to avoid a five goal defeat – it was an us or them kind of final day.

And it so nearly happened, Risborough Rangers, away to play-off chasing North Greenford United were beaten 4-1 – two goals short of being overtaken by the Swords.

Curiously, while County have an R next to them in the table, Wembley below them still have a game to play and could still drop Risborough into the relegation zone.

Probably unlikely though, they play North Greenford who will take Burnham’s place in the play-offs with a win.

There remains a chance either or both sides could stay up. There will be clubs who take voluntary demotion and others who suffer other sorts of issues, which will all be ratified by the FA at the end of the season. It has been policy for the bottom side in each division to be relegated for several seasons now however.