Boss Austin vows Harborough will fight to end as they hold on to promotion play-off dream

A travelling army of 100 Spanish supporters brought extra colour and noise to the Bee Hive on Saturday (Picture: Phil Passingham)

Mitch Austin says Harborough Town won't be giving up on their promotion dream - but admits last Saturday's damaging 2-1 home defeat to struggling St Ives Town has made achieving a top five finish ‘a little bit harder'.

On a day when Austin marked his 200th game in charge of the club, a travelling army of 100 Spanish supporters turned up at the Bee Hive to create a crackling atmosphere, but sadly the day ended in defeat as George Gyamfi netted a last-gasp winner for the visitors.

Ben Stephens had scored on 71 minutes to cancel out an early opener from Joshua Allen, and Harborough then pushed hard for a winner, but it was former Bees man Gyamfi who had the final say.

The defeat leaves the Bees seventh in the Pitching-In Southern League Premier Central, three points off the top five with three matches to play, and Austin told @HarbTownFC: "It is disappointing, but barring a worldie goal and a bit of a counter in the first half, we were good.

"It's just that clinical edged that we have missed in recent weeks, against Halesowen, Bromsgrove and Bedford to turn those draws into wins.

"We are not writing off any play-off challenge, far from it, but it does make it a little bit harder. We are disappointed, but let's move on.

"I will have to get my players back up for the next three games and see where it takes us.

"There are still going to be many twists and turns, and we will keep trying to chip away.

"Let's start a mini three run, and let's see if we can get in the play-offs after a little bit of adversity, and then take whoever wants it from there."

The first of those three games takes place this Saturday when Harborough travel to an 18th-placed Redditch United side who are in desperate need of points to avoid the drop.

They then entertain Barwell in the final home league game of the season on Easter Monday (3pm) before wrapping up the campaign with a trip to AFC Sudbury on April 26.

Looking back on Saturday, Austin was also disappointed that he and his team could not provide a win for Town’s Spanish supporters club, who, decked out in yellow, brought colour and noise to the Bee Hive on a memorable day.

Asked about the Spanish fans, Austin said: "They have all got their Harborough kits on, and it's great.

"It's just a shame we couldn't show them a real Harborough day, but it will give them a reason to come back."