Bishop Auckland manager Brian Honour will be raising his players for one last effort to avoid relegation when they go to title-chasing Farsley Celtic today.

Bishops have won three of their last four matches to put them third bottom of the Premier Division and if results go their way today they will escape relegation and complete a real Houdini act.

However, even if they win, they could still be relegated, depending on the result of the only team they can overtake, Frickley, who are at Marine.

But Honour is still very optimistic. "If somebody said to me, when we were bottom of the table three months ago that we would still have a chance of escaping relegation on the last day of the season I would have snapped their hands off.

"It's a testament to the players that we've still got a chance of staying up.

"If we can play like we have done in our last two matches, against Wakefield and Matlock, then we can do it.

"There is real belief in the team that we can do it.

"But we're under no illusions - we couldn't have a harder game against a team looking to win the title. It should be very entertaining, because both teams will be going all out."

Bishops played Farsley in a crunch game last season, and they won it to clinch promotion from the First Division.

Defender Mark Foster and midfielder Steve Bell will both have fitness tests.

Frickley's game at Marine won't be easy, because Marine's long-serving manager Roli Howard is bowing out today after a 30-year association with the club and he will be wanting to go out on a high.

Meanwhile, the debate is still raging over the Spennymoor issue.

The FA have confirmed that Hyde, Workington and Gateshead all submitted appeals this week, and the FA have told the UniBond League that their decision regarding Spennymoor last Sunday, when Moors were hit with a multitude of punishments, is invalid and should be reconsidered.

The league has been told that the decision wasn't quorate, so, in effect, Moors' punishments have been temporarily set aside.

A league statement read: "The question of whether or not the meeting was quorate rested on the legal interpretation as to the validity of proxy votes submitted by directors who were unable to attend the meeting.

"On receipt of the notification from the FA, the League decided to urgently call an emergency board meeting but regrettably this has not been possible during the current week as due to the unavailability of directors for various reasons and they were unable to arrange a meeting that was quorate.

"The emergency board meeting will now take place on Sunday, May 1, when the directors will decide on how to treat Spennymoor United's record and then agree the dates for the Premier Division play-offs, bearing in mind that their decision on the treatment of the record may be the subject of appeal.

"Under these circumstances it is therefore unlikely that the semi-finals of the Premier Division play-offs will take place on the original scheduled date of Monday May 2.

"However, with the cooperation of all parties it is hoped they could be played later that week with the final tie still taking place on Saturday, May 7, or as soon as possible thereafter."

Workington are particularly angry because they have lost six points, and were understood to be in favour of a proposal of Moors' outstanding games being decided on the basis of a goalless draw for home games and a 1-0 defeat for away games.