STOURPORT fell to a 3-1 defeat away at Southgate that saw them finish the weekend in the bottom four of the league and stumble back into the automatic relegation zone.

Despite regulars Stu Hendy and Gwyn Williams being delayed in traffic, Stourport started the game brightly.

They should have taken the lead as Rob Allen and Marc Edwards missed good chances before Phil Lashford wasted a gilt-edged opportunity with only two minutes on the clock.

This allowed Southgate to settle down and they started to enjoy the majority of possession, causing Stourport's defence all sorts of problems.

The hosts converted their first short corner of the game through set piece specialist Ali Ghazanfar.

Stourport did threaten, usually through the intricacy of Dave Westhead's play and he picked out Lashford on 20 minutes with a pin-point cross that the Stourport captain fired home to equalise.

The game went from end to end with neither side creating clear cut chances. Simon Mauger kept Southgate's leading scorer Ghazanfar quiet, ably backed up by keeper Hendy.

However, Southgate converted another short corner before half time to lead 2-1 before the break.

The second half saw a lack lustre display from the Stourport team.

Southgate dominated the midfield exchanges, ensuring Stourport created only one chance of note.

Luke Carless's first National League goal evaded him as the ball bounced invitingly across the face of goal.

Southgate continued to create chances and the post, combined with staunch defending from Williams, Tuckett-Good and Mauger, kept Southgate out until the final two minutes when a harsh penalty stroke was awarded allowing Ghazanfar to complete his hat-trick of set pieces.

Stourport realistically have to win their next two games against opposition immediately above them, starting with Old Georgians on April 3 at Stourport Sports Club.

Stourport seconds end the season in mid-table after a miserable 7-3 defeat at Players, Adrian Hoskins scoring twice with Max Totney also on target.

The thirds finished in a similar position in their league following a 6-2 victory over Northampton Saints with braces from Pete Gibbons and Alex Vale and singles from Luke Martin and Mark McKinnon.

To be sure of safety, Stourport fourths still require a point from their remaining fixture at home to high-flying Loughborough Students on April 9.

They go into the game with confidence on the back of an 8-3 thrashing of Belper which included four goals from Neil Thomas, a Tom White hat-trick and a David Knott strike.

Stourport sixths ended a season of consolodation with a 2-1 win over Old Halesonians fourths which puts them in sixth place.

Frank Cole and Rob Clariss were on target.