THE spectre of relegation is still hovering over Hindsford as they approach the last three games of the season still in the dark over their Manchester League Premier Division future.

The Atherton club went down 1-0 at Chapel Town on Saturday, the winner coming 10 minutes from the end of a largely uninspiring game. But even victory would not have eased their worries since three clubs are due to go down into Division One.

Hindsford are currently fourth bottom of the table comfortably ahead of Breightmet United and Pennington, who look destined to finish in the bottom two, but only two points ahead of Rochdale Sacred Heart, who have three games in hand.

“We still feel we are in a relegation battle,” said club spokesman Alan Brown. “We’re not sure yet whether three clubs will go down — that depends on a number of factors — but we have to make sure we finish out of the bottom three.”

Hindsford’s three remaining games are at home to Avro and away to Pennington and East Manchester and they are resigned to the race going to the wire.

Simon Hampson’s side never looked like winning at Chapel Town, where Dave Fashou and Dane Grimes had efforts that tested the home keeper, but they might have taken a point if they had not been caught out late on.

Breightmet, destined to finish bottom of the pile after recording just one win all season, gave second-placed Walshaw Sports a run for their money before going down 1-0 to a late penalty.

Gary McShane and Mark Grundy both tested the Walshaw keeper while Breightmet’s Philip Northfield made a number of good saves in an entertaining end-to-end game that was decided two minutes from time when United sub Danny Kerr conceded the decisive penalty.

Pennington have picked up a few points recently to add a touch of respectability to what has been a disappointing campaign, but came unstuck when they were beaten 3-0 at home to Elton Vale.

Atherton Town won 2-0 at Prestwich Heys to leapfrog their mid-table rivals into ninth position.

Kieran Eaves and Clint McLoughlin got the Town goals in an impressive performance on a bumpy pitch.

Leigh Athletic’s bid for a top 10 finish has faltered of late and suffered a further setback when they were beaten 3-0 at home to AVRO.

Latics rarely threatened and AVRO were good value for the three points.

Fives Athletic, who are bottom of Division One, can count themselves unlucky not to have secured at least a point at third-placed Bury Amateurs.

The Walkden side went down 1-0 — caught napping by a quickly-taken corner just after half time — but responded well and were on top for long periods as they searched in vain for an equaliser.