A 5-0 home defeat against relegation-threatened Carshalton two days before the final was followed by 4-1 away loss at Aylesbury United, who began the day in the drop zone.

The Fleet goal had an eartly scare when Phil Mason's cross found Cliff Hercules, but his header went just over.

But the Fleet took the lead after 25 minutes when Dave Powell's superbly weighted pass found Steve Restarick, who drilled the ball past Gary Phillips in the home goal, via the foot of the post.

But seconds before the interval Aylesbury equalised when Tom Hill's header beat Darren Smith in the Fleet goal. And two minutes after the restart Danny Greaves flicked home a header to put Aylesbury ahead.

Gary Crawshaw then extended the home side's lead after 65 minutes before Greaves rattled in his second, and Aylesbury's fourth, with nine minutes left.

Unfortunately, for the 1,232 home fans, the victory was not enough to preserve Aylesbury's Premier League status, being one of four teams who finished on 48 points but having the worst goal diffference.

Gravesend's defeat means they ended up finishing in 11th position.