Magpies a safe bet for survival after Stones win
While Alan Devonshire might not be ready to say it, it looks almost certain Maidenhead United will be playing in the National League next season after Saturday’s triumph against Maidstone lifted them 13 points clear of the bottom four.
More often than not, the minimum number of points needed to guarantee survival in the National League has been 50 with Devonshire – and he’s probably not afraid to admit this – making that his part-time team’s primary objective every season.
With seven games left to play in this campaign, the Magpies currently sit 14th with 47 points thanks to 13 wins and eight draws to go alongside 18 defeats.
The Stones (24th) look a safe bet to go down after their defeat at York Road extended a winless league run to 17 matches.
Torquay United (23rd), Scunthorpe United (22nd), and Gateshead (21st) – who are Maidenhead United’s final opponents of the season – occupy the remaining places in the relegation zone as things stand.
Speaking to the Advertiser at full-time on Saturday, Devonshire said he was ‘very proud’ of his side’s efforts this season.
“It’s been a tough campaign, there’s some big teams in this league spending lots and lots of money. I am delighted with how we’ve done,” he said.
“We ain’t there yet, we’ve got maybe another win to get but at the end of the day, we are getting there. I am pleased and very proud of the boys’ work.
“We’ve taken four points in two home games. We should have won on Tuesday [against Aldershot Town] if we had a proper referee but listen, I will take four points and move on.
“Maidstone drew with Barnet last week. They have a got new manager in who wants to implement his tactics. They won’t roll over for anyone and they showed that in the second half. It was scrappy but we’ve won the game so I am happy with that.”
With no competitive game on Tuesday for the first time in weeks, Devonshire will be giving his players a lighter workload in training this week. The Magpies return to action on Saturday when they face 20th-placed Dorking Wanderers away.
“We need the rest and we won’t run them too hard now,” said Devonshire.
Remy Clerima netted a secondhalf equaliser to earn United a draw in the corresponding home fixture back in December.
The French defender nodded home on the hour mark after Dorking had taken a second minute lead through Ryan Seager.
The Magpies were fairly dominant though and would have won the match comfortably, but for a series of missed chances.