THERE is a small ray of hope that Weymouth could still be a Blue Square Premier outfit next season despite last night’s 2-1 loss against York City at the Wessex Stadium, according to Terras’ chairman Ian Ridley.

The defeat has ensured Weymouth will finish in the drop-zone but there could be an opportunity of a reprieve if they can beat Wrexham at the Racecourse Ground on Sunday and leapfrog Woking into 21st place.

The Terras showed great fighting spirit against the Minstermen with Cliff Akurang cancelling out Richard Brodie’s early opener on the stroke of half-time.

The on-loan forward then went close to giving the hosts the lead early in the second half but his close-range effort was agonisingly cleared off the line.

Weymouth continued to battle with Dominic Merella having an effort saved before a goalkeeping blunder by Adam Legzdins led to a heartbreaking winner by Adam Boyes, which secured York’s safety and sent the Terras down.

Ridley said: “I always said that if we are going down let’s do it with passion and spirit and that is why I got Bobby Gould in as manager.

“I will have a lot more to say next week about the state of the football club and how it has come to this. But there is still a bit of hope to cling on to because there is talk in and around the Conference that one team might want to take voluntary demotion.

“It is not nice to profit from something like that but if we are in the position to do so then we would take that lifeline. If we win at Wrexham on Sunday and Woking do not win their final game at Rushden & Diamonds we will finish fourth from bottom and in a position where we could profit from any chance of a reprieve. Tonight has been a sad night but if we were all honest it was always coming. It was an inevitable consequence of what has happened at the club.”

Despite coming into the club at such a late stage in Weymouth’s plight Gould felt as disappointed as anyone after last night’s game but also warned Wrexham that the Terras will be going there with all guns blazing.

He said: “Relegation is one of the worst feelings you can get in professional football and I told the young lads that it never goes away.

“The hurt subsides after a while but it is always with you and it will always be on your CV. There were completely different noises in the two dressing rooms. York’s was very boisterous while in ours there was emptiness and I am hurting just as much as anyone who has been here all season.

“The players will now need to recover both mentally and physically before getting on the coach on Sunday and being ready to go and win a game because believe you me we will be going to Wrexham full blooded.

“We will not be going up there just to lie down not against Dean Saunders anyway. It is personal with him but we will be counting the knees and knuckles ahead of the game. We have lost two or three players through different situations and there might well be some more youngsters with us on Sunday.”

Cameron Mawer, who has been playing through the pain of suffering from Osgood-Schlatter’s disease, could be doubtful for the trip to Wrexham.

The full back received a standing ovation when he was substituted in the dying stages of last night’s game and Gould believes that applause was fully deserved.

He said: “If this country went to war I would love to have Cameron in the trench with me. I would go with him anywhere because he is a fighter. He has been fantastic.”