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[Darren]

It's not over till it's over
By Connor Murphy
Comment
THE fight will go on right till the death.

Although the odds for survival are stacked heavily against Alty, Graham Heathcote has pledged his team won't concede defeat until they absolutely have to.

The Robins boss knows survival is not in his side's own hands but insists that will not change preparations for their final game against Weymouth.

Blue Square Premier results on Tuesday night couldn't have been much worse for Alty.

Both Northwich and Weymouth escaped relegation after claiming a win and a draw respectively, while Halifax Town also climbed above them after thumping Crawley 4-0.

The only comfort was Farsley's 4-1 defeat at York, which effectively relegated them.

Now, Alty must win at Weymouth on Saturday and hope Halifax lose at home to Stevenage, who have nothing left to play for after defeat to Northwich on Tuesday ended their play-off hopes.

Heathcote told SAM Sport: "You can't do anything about other results.

"The problem is that we let ourselves down with a very lacklustre performance against Ebbsfleet last Saturday and we have paid dearly for it.

"I can't explain last Saturday and neither can the players. Ebbsfleet were just sharper than us all over the pitch.

"But we have one game left and we have to go and win at Weymouth and then hope that the result at Halifax goes our way.

"It's a slim hope because Halifax are in a false position. They're a midtable side really, if you take away the 10-point deduction.

"We know what we have to do and we just have to go down there and create a rousing finish.

"We have to be focussed on getting a performance and it has to be a lot better than last Saturday."

But Heathcote also confirmed that whatever happens on Saturday, the club will conduct a postseason inquest.

"Everyone needs to get behind the players at the weekend and then we can look at things once the season has ended," he added.

"We will sit down on May 5 no matter what happens and decide what the best course of action is for the future of this football club.

"It's different reasons why we have struggled this season than in previous seasons but that's to be discussed at the end of the campaign.

"It's been a difficult three years and this league wears you down.

"It's no surprise that the current bottom four are the proper part-time teams in the league. It's extremely difficult to complete.

"There are a lot of teams who have shown serious financial intent but the board here has made a decision to pursue long-term stability over short-term success.

"Whatever happens, we'll have a stronger club next year with a stronger base of youth and stronger community presence."

12:37pm Thursday 24th April 2008