Nuneaton Borough vs Gresley Rovers
Referee Roger King had already left Gresley Rovers fans in no doubt that he was a "full 90 minutes" man before Saturday.
But the Worcester-based official put the Moatmen and their fans through the agonies again at Manor Park as he contrived to produce five full minutes of added time in which struggling Borough almost conjured up an unlikely point.
Rovers, having taken advantage of the appalling conditions - the match began in a blizzard and concluded in a sea of mud - to take an early lead then rode their luck and snapped up their chances - or some of them - to lead 3-0 with five minutes of normal time left.
When substitute Paul Culpin pulled a goal back in the 86th minute - his 200th for the club - it seemed no more than a consolation for Borough but as the game then entered its unlikely period of extra time winger Jason Percival then grabbed another to take some of the gloss off what had been another impressive performance by Rovers.
Most would have settled for 3-2 beforehand, however, and Rovers were left peering down from 15th position on their hosts as the conclusion, with Nuneaton facing the awful prospect of instant relegation after just one season in the Beazer top flight.
In truth, the home side had looked nothing better than candidates for the drop from the moment keeper Darren Steadman allowed the ball to slither over the line after Nick Stanborough had headed down Graeme Rigg's free kick with just eight minutes gone. Talk of the effort going down as an own goal was muted as the big defender joyously celebrated his first ever goal for the Moatmen.
After that Nuneaton hogged possession but failed to produce anything like a finish to threaten stand-in keeper Mark Wheatley who, while called to deal with a string of retaliatory free kick, didn't really have a true save to make in the entire first half.
By then Rovers could already have had the game won. Two minutes after Stanborough's opener, David Holmes raced clear onto Martin Devaney's pass only to be foiled by an excellent last-ditch tackle by Jim Rodwell.
Stuart Evans then shot over a gaping target after Stanborough had headed down a Rigg corner and Devaney saw a shot cleared off the line by Gary Bradder following Holmes' cross, Ian Straw firing the loose ball wide.
Straw was a deal more accurate when another chance presented itself three minutes into the second half, heading into an empty net after the excellent Mark Hurst had picked up Dave Swainston's long throw, beaten a defender in the box and crossed to the far post.
Nuneaton responded with their best spell of the game with Wheatley producing a spectacular diving save to deny Ian Cottrill then tipping over a fierce drive from the same player.
Mark Rosegreen sent another effort swerving just wide then headed over from point blank range after Rodwell's knock down but gradually Gresley eased control of the game away from their hosts.
Rodwell became the fourth player to receive the yellow card after hauling down Hurst but the little striker extracted maximum revenge, meeting Dave Swainston's free kick with a first time volley that exposed Borough's woeful lack of organisation at the back and easily beat Steadman's dive.
After that it seemed a question of how may more goals Rovers could pile up - until Nuneaton's late cavalry charge and Mr King's funny five minutes.
Nuneaton Borough (0) 2
Gresley Rovers (1) 3
Scorers: Culpin 86, Percival 90 (Nuneaton Borough); Stanborough 8, Straw 48, Hurst 82 (Gresley Rovers).
Nuneaton Borough: Steadman, Wright, Tarry, Keogh, Rodwell, Cotrill, Wade (Carmichael 60), Symonds, Bradder, Rosegreen (Culpin 69), Percival.
Gresley Rovers: Wheatley, Dick, Swainston, Straw, Evans, Stanborough, Wardle, Rigg, Hurst, Holmes (Marsden 69), Devaney. Sub not used: Elliott.
Gresley man-of-the-match: Mark Hurst.
Referee: R W King (Worcester).
Attendance: 919
