Final fate sealed as Anchors are ruled out of play-off final

STOCKTON Town have been removed from today's Northern Premier League Premier Division play-off final after being charged with fielding an ineligible player in Tuesday's semi-final win against Guiseley.

- By MARK CARRUTHERS

Michael Dunwell's men went into their midweek clash with the Lions on the back of achieving the highest ever league finish in the club's history after ending the league campaign in third place in the Premier Division table.

A Kevin Hayes goal was enough to see off Guiseley and appeared to have set up a Bank Holiday Monday final at Worksop Town and taken the Anchors to within 90 minutes of potentially securing a first ever promotion into the National League North.

However, speculation over the eligibility of Stockton captain Adam Nicholson spread on social media after he featured for the entire 90 minutes of the win over Guiseley just three days after being shown a straight red card in a final-day win against Hyde United.

Stockton reacted to the online talk by releasing images of the Football Association's Pro Club Portal showing the five-match ban was not set to start until Saturday and stressing they 'acted correctly and in full compliance with FA notifications and procedures'.