The state of the- South Central- nation

Pitching In Isthmian South Central still has some drama to offer us with only two weekends to go.

At the top, we know that Leatherhead are the champions, and that Westfield, Moneyfields, Hanworth Villa and AFC Portchester will contest the Play Offs. At the bottom, the relegation of Fareham Town and Horndean has been confirmed, whilst Met Police and Littlehampton Town are very much the favourites to join them. Let’s look at some of the detail.

Westfield start the penultimate weekend in second place, and, given they have a four point lead over third place Moneyfields and a six point lead over sixth place Hanworth Villa they’ll be confident of holding onto the runner up spot and, in so doing, holding onto hold advantage in the Play Offs. Field are at home this weekend, seventeenth place Hendon the visitors- and this match is crucial for the Londoners as they are only four points above the drop zone. Field will very much want to win this one, as their last match of the normal campaign sees them travel to…Moneyfields. 

The Moneys travel to South Park Reigate on Saturday knowing that victory will guarantee a home Play Off Semi-Final, and of course they will hope for a victory and that Westfield fail to win against Hendon, which will leave a one match shootout for second place the following weekend.

Fourth place Hanworth Villa travel to take on fifth place AFC Portchester on Saturday, three points between them. The Villains will still hope for third place- second is mathematically possible but unlikely- as they are only two points behind the Moneys. They end the campaign at home to Raynes Park Vale.

The Royals of Portchester could also effectively reach third place, but to do so they’d have to defeat Villa and, on the final Saturday, Kingstonian, and hope that other results go their way.

At the bottom, Metropolitan Police are five points from safety and will need to defeat already relegated Fareham Town on Saturday and win at Ascot United on the last day to have any chance of survival, something which is complicated by the fact that the Yellas are one of the sides they are trying to catch. 

Littlehampton Town, three points from safety, host Hayes and Yeading United on Saturday and then travel to already relegated Horndean. The Golds have Ascot United, Hendon, Bedfont Sports and Binfield still within possible reach, although have four points to make up on Hendon and Sports and five on the Moles, so will require at least one of that quartet to struggle if they are to stay up, particularly as their goal difference is significantly worse than the sides above them.

Ascot United travel to Raynes Park Vale on Saturday knowing that victory will undoubtedly keep them safe, and if three points are still required they finish the campaign at home to Met Police. Hendon are four points clear of the bottom four but follow that tricky trip we’ve already mentioned to Hendon with a home match against an Egham Town side who are ending the campaign strongly. Bedfont Sports, also four points clear of the drop zone, have a home match against already-relegated Horndean so will hope to secure their safety on Saturday, particularly because they travel to champions Leatherhead on the final day.

Finally, Binfield are five points clear of the drop zone and, given they have a far better goal difference than Littlehampton Town, can be confident that one more point will keep them safe. Their first chance to get that comes as they host Kingstonian on Saturday, They end their campaign at the seaside, as they travel to Bognor Regis Town.