Sutton boss Steve Morison has vowed his players will “keep fighting” to secure their Football League status following a 2-2 draw at Harrogate.
An 87th-minute equaliser from substitute Deon Moore – his first-ever EFL goal at the age of 24 – made it 13 points from a possible 18 for Morison’s men.
But victories for relegation rivals Colchester and Grimsby – who play each other on Tuesday night – left the second-bottom U’s one point adrift of safety.
Third-bottom Colchester also have two games in hand with Morison admitting: “It’s out of our hands completely and we’ve got to hope for a favourable result from the Colchester v Grimsby game, but we’ll keep fighting for as long as we’ve got a chance.
“Our aim is to win our last two games. That still might not be enough but we’ve got to see where it could take us.
“We’ve won four, drawn one and lost one of our last six games and the players deserve to at least take it to the final day, because they have shown they are a good group who are fighting for the badge, the club and the fans.”
Following Moore’s leveller, Harry Smith had a great opportunity to win the game in stoppage time but blazed over and, reflecting on that miss, Morison added: “When we got the second goal, we were pushing forward because we had to go for it and we had that big moment, but unfortunately couldn’t take it.”
Harry Beautyman had given the visitors the lead during first-half stoppage time, only for long-serving Harrogate pair George Thomson and Jack Muldoon to hit back for the hosts.
Former Peterborough attacker Moore’s late leveller – from Beautyman’s pass – then denied the hosts an opportunity to move within a point of the play-off positions, but manager Simon Weaver said: “We’re proud as punch that we’re going to finish in our highest league position with our highest number of EFL points and to still have something to play for with two games left.
“The wind had a real effect on the game and we had to deal with that in the first half against a determined Sutton side who were going all out for the win.
“We had to stand up to their physicality and entries into the box, so it was a bit disappointing to concede right at the end of the half but we then scored two fantastic goals from two club legends once more and Mullers had an opportunity to score another.
“We played some very good football in difficult conditions, but you also have to give credit to the opposition and it was a great through-ball for their equaliser.
“It was a real moment of magic that earned them a point after they hadn’t been a threat at all in the second half.”
