Poppies sunk

Kettering Town became the first team to be relegated from the Nationwide Conference this season when their 3-2 home defeat to Forest Green Rovers condemned them to a place in the bottom three.

Steve Cowe gave the visitors the lead. Craig Norman equalised for the hosts from the spot, before Cowe, with his second, and a penalty from Alex Meecham put the visitors 3-1 up. Niall Inman's injury-time effort was a mere consolation. The attendance of 422 was the lowest for a top-flight non-League match at Rockingham Road.

"It's been tough on all the players," said Kettering's manager, Carl Shutt, the former Leeds United striker. "But the league table doesn't lie." While the Poppies' return to regional football has been confirmed, their future off the field is less certain. The Kettering chairman, Peter Mallinger, put the club up for sale late last year and has this week held talks with the supporters' trust, which has made a six-figure offer for the club.

Assuming the Conference's plan to increase its size to 24 clubs does not come into force until the season after next, two more clubs will face the fall this term. Leigh RMI and Nuneaton Borough occupy the other two relegation positions now, but Woking, Gravesend & Northfleet and Farnborough Town are all within three points of the drop zone. Leigh's home game against Gravesend tomorrow is a key fixture.

Despite his club's perilous position, the Nuneaton manager, Steve Burr, is adamant that the Football Association should refuse to sanction the Conference's hopeful proposal to relegate only one club this season and increase its size next term. "I don't see how you can change it halfway through a season," he said.

At the top of the Conference, Yeovil Town will secure the title and promotion to the Football League if they avoid defeat in tomorrow's televised match at second-placed Doncaster Rovers, or if third-placed Chester City fail to win at home to Woking.