WITH four wins from their last five league games, Fawley AFC ended the season as one of the form sides of the Sydenhams Premier Division.

But, alas, it was not enough to stop them falling victim of last summer’s rule change which means three sides will be going down.

While the Oilers will take relegation on the chin, chairman Kevin Mitchell feels another rule change is long overdue.

He believes teams who cancel fixtures because they can’t raise a side should be punished with a points deduction rather than just a fine.

Mitchell said: “Unless we get a reprieve, which has happened in the past, we will be the first side to finish third-to-bottom that gets relegated because of the rule change.

“But I believe there should be another rule change for next year which, had it been in operation this season, would have kept us up.

“Four or possibly five teams have cancelled fixtures because they say they can’t get a side out and, in some cases, they’ve gone on and won the rearranged game.

“A number of clubs have spoken to me saying they think it’s unfair.

“We could have done the same thing and taken the fines, but we’ve had several games where we’ve had to play youth players to get a team out.

“We know games get called off in lower leagues and I appreciate it can be difficult to get sides out, but at Wessex level it’s not something you expect.

“At this level you wouldn’t have thought there’d be an issue unless something extremely unlucky happens like a virus running through the club.

“Otherwise is it really a case of clubs not being able to get a side out, or is it just that they can’t get a good enough side out?”

Fawley had to win Saturday’s home game against Brockenhurst to stand any hope of survival.

They duly delivered, coming back from a goal down to triumph 2-1 in front of a season's best 120-plus crowd at Long Lane.

Ryan Long put Brock in front, but two-goal Aaron Lucas turned the game on its head.

Unfortunately for Fawley, Cowes Sports’ 1-0 win over Amesbury gave them the points they needed to leapfrog their Wiltshire visitors into 18th place.

"We've done everything we possibly could have done to try and survive," said Mitchell.

"If we'd had the squad we finished with from the start, I think our season could have turned out differently.

"But if we are relegated we'll take it on the chin and move on. We'll be in Division One and looking to improve."

Amesbury wound up on 37 points, the same as the Oilers, but with a superior goal difference. Cowes finished with 38.

Bottom club Verwood ended a torrid season with a 4-1 home defeat by Portchester, while 21st-placed Whitchurch United were routed 5-0 at Hamworthy United.

Steve Smith sank a hat-trick for the Hammers supported by singles from Ed Hodge and Joshua Rose.