The destination of the Peterborough League Premier Division title remains in limbo after an injury-time equaliser denied Uppingham Town championship glory on Saturday.
The Rutland side looked on course to retain their crown when they led Warboys Town 3-1 with 10 minutes of their final home league game of the season remaining.
However, the Witches conjured up two late levellers to deny Uppingham the title – for the time being at least.
Paul Sheehan’s side currently trail league leaders Moulton Harrox by one point with the table-toppers having completed their league campaign.
But Uppingham still have one match outstanding following the abandonment of their game at Stilton last month.
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Town were leading 1-0 at half-time of the contest where Stilton had two players sent off late in the first period.
An alleged incident involving the Stilton players in the referee’s dressing room at half-time prompted the match to be abandoned.
The matter is currently being dealt with by the Huntingdonshire FA with the Peterborough League awaiting their ruling before making any further decision.
League rules state that when the ‘Board is satisfied that a match was abandoned owing to the conduct of one team or its club member(s) they shall award the points for the match to the opponent’.
However, with the outcome of a league title on the line both Uppingham and Moulton – who are each innocent parties in the debacle – are anxiously awaiting the verdict.
Uppingham will no doubt want to clinch the title on the pitch rather than the boardroom but will have every right to feel hard done by if they’re made to replay a game where they were leading 1-0 against nine men with 45 minutes still to play.
Equally Moulton could feel aggrieved that the matter hasn’t been settled on the pitch after a titanic tussle for the title.
Both teams have faced hectic finales to the season but have defied the backlog of matches to mount serious championship charges.
Uppingham could, and probably should, have put the matter to bed on Saturday against a high-flying Warboys side who will finish in third place.
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Town started the stronger of the two teams and rattled the post inside the opening couple of minutes from a Josh Porter free-kick.
An inswinging corner from Callum O’Berg then just eluded Rob Montgomery at the back post before the Warboys goalkeeper made an excellent save to deny Rob Forster from close range.
It looked like being one of those afternoons for the home side when Warboys took the lead just before the half-hour mark with a powerful drive into the bottom corner of the Uppingham net.
But Town responded and regained the initiative before the break with two excellent strikes.
Robbie Pearce crafted a fine finish from outside the area to level the contest before Town took the lead on the stroke of half-time.
Ollie Lewin cut inside from the left before unleashing a superb strike into the top corner of the visiting net.
It gave Town the momentum for the second period and they looked to have put the contest beyond their visitors when Porter raced through before slotting home to make it 3-1.
But Warboys have been a credit to the top flight in their first season back in the Premier Division and they refused to let the championship celebrations begin.
A close range finish was bundled home with just under 10 minutes remaining and it was game on again.
This was Uppingham’s fourth match in eight days and that suddenly started to take its toll as they conceded possession cheaply against a reinvigorated Warboys side.
The visitors piled on the pressure in the closing stages and finally got their reward in injury-time as a shot was lobbed over goalkeeper Tom Hubbard and tapped home at the far post.
Town were unable to find another response which saw the champagne and league trophy put on ice until the ruling from above is announced.
Whatever the outcome, both Uppingham and Moulton deserved enormous credit for their finishes to the season.
Both sides looked well off the title pace at the turn of the year with FC Peterborough runaway leaders in pole position.
However, the city side faded as quickly as they emerged as front-runners, with both Uppingham and Moulton going toe-to-toe for the title in recent weeks with Warboys waiting in the wings for either side to slip.
Moulton lost just once in the last 10 games while Uppingham haven’t been beaten in the league since January 28.
They have won 12 and drawn three of their previous 15 games, as well as lifting the Peterborough Senior Cup in what could still be a memorable double-winning campaign for the Rutlanders.