Pivotal weekend for United (23.02.06)

ONE point from six this week meant United sank back to the foot of the table.
However, manager Carl Taylor remains confident his side will be playing in Conference South next season, and believes the coming weekend will prove pivotal.
He said: “Our game at Yeading will be hard, but Eastbourne have St Albans, Carshalton have Farnborough, Newport have got Lewes, and Hayes and Bishop’s Stortford are playing each other.
“I think there will be seven teams in the relegation scrap after the weekend.”
There was more good news for United this week, as it seems only one side will now face demotion, after Cambridge City sold their ground.
Conference rules dictate that clubs must either hold the freehold or a 10-year lease on their ground, meaning the Lilywhites will be unable to play in the league next season.
It is understood that talks regarding a possible merger with Cambridge United are ongoing, while the fans were due to meet last night (Thursday) with a view to launching a supporters trust to help save their club.
Speculation over Eastleigh’s future has also been rife in recent weeks, but news of their demise appears to have been greatly exaggerated, as the club has now announced plans to sell shares to resolve their financial difficulties.
Meanwhile, results on the field have been less than helpful, with United’s fellow relegation battlers Carshalton Athletic continuing to make headway up the league.
Their weekend game was postponed, but on Tuesday they beat former high-flyers Welling United 1-0. Fellow strugglers Newport had a less successful week, losing 3-1 to St Albans City, before drawing 2-2 with Dorchester Town in midweek, meaning only one point now separates the bottom three.
However, this fact just made the Magpies’ results all the more frustrating.
Discussing Saturday’s defeat at Eastleigh, manager Carl Taylor admitted: “I was disappointed.
“After being really solid and controlling the game in the first half, we let it get away. I wasn’t best pleased.”
And it was a similar story on Tuesday night, when Untied twice led before finally settling for a 2-2 draw against battling Bishop’s Stortford.
Taylor said: “I think Stortford gave us more problems than Eastleigh, but I was disappointed.
“Again we were controlling the game, but credit to them, they were the away team but they kept coming and got a deserved equaliser.
“We got back into a winning position, but they came again to earn a point. I wasn’t happy.
“In fact I was livid, but having simmered down a bit I think we should give Stortford credit where it’s due.
“They haven’t lost in 10 games and they don’t lie down.”