Boreham Wood manager Ian Allinson has refused to give up on the title despite his team’s fate no longer being in their own hands.

Wood slipped down to second in the Conference South after being held to a 1-1 draw at Ebbsfleet United on Saturday.

Bromley are back on top of the league and will be crowned champions if they defeat Weston-Super-Mare tomorrow.

Allinson is hoping for a favour, with his side not in action this weekend, which could enable his team to take the title race into the final day of the season.

The Wood manager said: “I will never concede the title until it is mathematically impossible. We still believe Weston can go to Bromley and get a result.

“We will never concede the title but it is not in our hands anymore. If Bromley fail to beat them, then we will go into the last game at Chelmsford City with a chance of going up as champions. That’s what we have to hope for.”

Allinson added: “There is not a lot we can do at the moment. We have to rely on other teams but if we end up in the play-offs then it will be back in our hands.”

The Wood manager believes the team’s break this weekend has come at the right time and will allow them to freshen up ahead of the play-offs should they miss out on the title.

Allinson said: “It’s a good break for us and has come at an important time. It will give us the chance to refocus and it’s nice that there will not be any pressure on us this weekend.

“We will have the chance to regroup with ten or 12 days off although the players will be training tomorrow (Saturday). The break gives us the opportunity to clear up any niggles and be nice and fresh for next week.”

Wood left it late to snatch a point at Ebbsfleet after Ben Nunn converted an 87th-minute penalty.

United opened the scoring five minutes before half time when Danny Kedwell released Matt Godden and his cross was clinically headed home by Adam Cunnington.

Substitute Charlie Walker came close to scoring for the visitors in the second half but his shot was saved by goalkeeper Brandon Hall.

Cunnington almost grabbed his second goal of the game but his 30-yard strike was tipped over the bar by James Russell.

Kedwell also had a header saved by Russell which kept Allinson’s side in the game.

Wood were handed a reprieve when Walker was brought down and Nunn buried his spot-kick to level the contest.

The visitors nearly won the match at the death when Matty Whichelow raced through on goal but his shot was superbly saved by Hall.

Allinson said: “We gave away the goal at a bad time and it put us on the back foot.

“It took us a bit longer to get back in the match but once we got the equaliser we could have gone on to win the game.”

Boreham Wood failed to retain the Hertfordshire Senior Challenge Cup after losing 1-0 to Hemel Hempstead Town in Tuesday’s final at Letchworth’s County Ground.

Wood defeated Bishop’s Stortford on penalties in last year’s final but just came up short in their trophy defence.

It took 38 minutes for the first shot on target when Walker’s strike was saved by goalkeeper Jamie Head.

Jordan Parkes was denied by Russell from a free-kick in the second half as Hemel started to threaten Wood’s goal.

There was no stopping the breakthrough after 65 minutes when Hemel’s top scorer Parkes curled a superb free-kick into the bottom corner of the net.

Wood struggled to create any openings after falling behind with Hemel’s defence keeping them at bay to clinch the victory. Allinson said: “It was a low-key match which never really took off. Both teams flooded the midfield and I don’t think the conditions helped with the pitch not conducive to playing football.

“I just felt they adapted slightly better to them than us and one bit of quality won them the game.”