WANDERERS narrowly avoided embarrassment at Eastleigh but whether they live to fight another day is another matter altogether.

At 4.42pm on Saturday evening, we were ready to pen another entry into the macabre catalogue of catastrophe this season has become.

Dorian Dervite’s own goal separated the sides on a pitch more suited to bog snorkelling and the Whites – barely visible in the dim Silverlake Stadium floodlights – were labouring to get back into the game.

In a campaign of low blows. This wasn’t even the lowest.

But then came a moment of salvation.

Darren Pratley bundled in a goal that guaranteed a replay, probably televised, and a shot at a lucrative fourth round tie. Though his reserved celebration indicated otherwise, the captain knew just how important staying in this competition really was.

Worst case scenario, Wanderers’ very future may be in question by the time they host the Spitfires again.

The stark reality of the matter is that if a buyer is not found within the next couple of days, administration will be sought, but that costs money that Wanderers have not got to hand.

A week today they will be wound up in the High Court and facing liquidation. That would mean an even heftier points deduction and, again worst case scenario, expulsion from the league.

The four-time FA Cup winners, the club who bloodied the noses of the Premier League elite under Sam Allardyce, the team still followed devoutly by more than 1,000 fans to a footballing outpost in Hampshire, reduced to playing at a level below that of their hosts at the weekend?

A penny for the thoughts of outgoing owner Eddie Davies, currently in Barbados, while Trevor Birch thrashed out more last-gasp negotiations yesterday.

Sat back at home pondering his own future was Zach Clough, a young man with a massive decision to make. His transfer to Bristol City could give Wanderers the funds to have a say in their own immediate future.

But I for one would not blame him for digging in his heels and saying ‘no’.

With due respect to the Robins and the bright young side Steve Cotterill is looking to build down there, Clough’s talent deserves a bigger stage.

Wanderers missed the invention of Clough and Mark Davies on Saturday afternoon. So too did Eastleigh, whose players had trained exclusively on stopping the pair all week.

Prince-Desire Gouano had also dropped out through injury, leaving the fragile Dervite to pair with David Wheater in a game that did little to restore the Frenchman’s confidence.

Referee Iain Williamson had only given the green light to the game 90 minutes before kick-off. By that time Wanderers’ team bus was doing laps of Eastleigh town centre.

The Berkshire official made the right choice. The surface made football all-but impossible but the logistical difficulties of putting this game on in midweek had to be considered. At 1.35pm Williamson trudged through a particularly deep patch of mud in front of the dugouts and gave an unconvincing thumbs-up.

Credit must go to the home team for doing everything they could to ensure the game went ahead, so too the team of volunteers who used every fork, spade and shovel within a 10-mile radius to beat the lingering showers.

Eastleigh’s football suffered just as much as the side 52 places above them in the Football League pyramid as a result of the surface.

The non-league men shaded the first half. Winger Yemi Odubade, who boasts more than a century of appearances for Oxford United, caused all manner of problems before limping off.

So too did Jai Reason, the man on the opposite flank, who forced Ben Amos into a decent save on the half hour.

Questions had been asked about whether Wellington Silva would fancy this type of environment but the Brazilian winger fared quite well in patches and brought a smart stop out of Ross Flitney.

Wanderers improved dramatically in the few minutes before the break. Dean Moxey was denied by Flitney and David Wheater headed into the side netting after a Liam Feeney corner.

Set pieces were becoming more important to both sides. And it was following the Whites’ inability to clear a corner that Eastleigh seized ahead.

Reason’s cross caught Dervite facing his own goal and his clumsy attempt to clear wrong-footed Amos and hit the back of the net.

The Spitfires had lift-off. Thanks to keeper Flitney’s heroics it seemed like a historic shock was on the cards.

The former Fulham keeper, once sent off in 80 seconds playing for Barnet against Manchester United at Old Trafford, was now making positive headlines, tipping wide Pratley’s curling shot, then stifling another effort from Gary Madine.

Amos was doing the same at the other end. Blocking Josh Payne’s blast and then getting a helping hand from Wheater to hook the ball off the line after Reason had burst through the middle.

Wanderers also had to defend an indirect free-kick eight yards from their own goal after referee Williamson gave a bizarre back-pass decision against Rob Holding.

The omens were not good. Neil Lennon had been booed by the travelling fans after bringing off Josh Vela for Shola Ameobi and got more stick as he introduced Liam Trotter for the final five minutes alongside Kaiyne Woolery.

But what could have been a disaster was averted when Feeney’s corner was helped on by Holding, who was wrestling with full-back Joe Partington, then nudged over the line by Pratley with three minutes left.

Pandemonium mixed with relief among the Bolton support – likewise on the bench, where Lennon had been shifting nervously for some time.

Eastleigh were crestfallen, their big chance perhaps now come and gone. But considering the precarious nature of their opponents, there are no guarantees in the replay.

Like the tagline for the horror classic Texas Chainsaw Massacre reads: “Who will survive and what will be left of them?”

This horror story has another chapter to go.