ALRESFORD TN 0, AFC PORTCHESTER 5

THIS midweek home thrashing at the hands of fifth-placed Portchester, coupled with lowly Fawley’s 3-2 win against Newport, means that Alresford Town are destined for a bottom-two finish.

Relegation, if confirmed, will come just three years after the club’s best ever season. In the 2012-13 campaign, under the joint managership of Tim Cole and Danny Robinson, the Magpes achieved an unprecedented cup treble (Hants Senior Cup, Wessex League Cup, North Hants Senior Cup) and finished runners-up in the Sydenhams League (Wessex) Premier Division.

Cole and Robinson moved on to Winchester City after that great success, taking several players with them, and things were never quite the same at Alresford again.