It’s been a crucial Easter period of football across non-league this week with clubs winning league titles and securing play-off spots, while others have suffered the cruel blow of relegation or seen their play-off hopes diminished for another year.

Hemel Hempstead Town were in jubilant mood this week as they secured the Southern Premier League title and gained automatic promotion into the Conference South for next season. Last Saturday the Tudors thumped Hungerford Town 4-0 and second-placed Chesham United’s 1-0 home defeat to Stourbridge ensured league honours for Hemel.

For the neutrals, it made Easter Monday’s fixture between Hemel and Chesham no longer a title decider but nonetheless, Hemel ran out 2-1 winners at Vauxhall Road where the Hertfordshire outfit were presented with the Southern Premier League shield in front of their fans.

The two goals scored raised Hemel’s goalscoring tally to a remarkable 126 scored in just 43 games, totalling 102 points in the process. A striking duo of Ben Mackay and Lewis Toomey has made sure of that with the Tudors partnership bagging a staggering 73 goals between them this term.

Despite defeat for Chesham they are in this season’s play-offs for promotion along with Cambridge City while St Albans City, Stourbridge or Hungerford will claim the two final spots. A three point cushion and plus three goal difference advantage for St Albans ahead of Hungerford should ensure a place in the top five but nothing can be taken for granted at this stage of the season and a point for St Albans at Frome Town will clinch it.

Stourbridge are away at Hitchin Town when again a point for the away side would be enough given their superior goal difference. But should either they or St Albans suffer defeat, then Hungerford will be looking to capitalise but will do so only if they win at home to Bideford.

On a day when Dean Brennan’s Hemel were being presented with their league trophy and celebrating with their fans, three clubs in the two leagues above were left with what-ifs as defeat signalled relegation for Dartford, Tonbridge Angels and Histon.

Tony Burman’s Dartford saw their stay in the Conference Premier come to an end after two years when they lost 3-2 at home to already relegated Tamworth.

The Darts took the lead at Princes Park through Elliot Bradbook on 30 minutes but two goals in 13 second-half minutes from Jessy Reindort and a Kevin Thornton penalty in the 73rd minute stunned the home fans. With rivals Hereford United beating Alfreton Town and Chester winning at Cambridge United it was all but over for the Kent side. Two goals in the 90th minute for both sides set up a tense finale but Dartford were relegated to the Conference South and will play their final game in the Premier this season against Nuneaton Town.

Hereford, two points from safety in the drop zone, face relegation rivals Aldershot Town on the final day to retain their Conference Premier status but even a win for the Bulls will put them level on points with Aldershot on 51 points and the Shots have a superior goal difference.

Chester, sandwiched between those two in the league table, can secure their safety and send Hereford down though as they face Salisbury City, who are set for a mid-table finish on their return to non-league’s top tier.

As for Tonbridge, they knew a defeat at relegation rivals Chelmsford City would send them down and were given a cruel thumping, losing 7-1 at the Melbourne Stadium to compound their misery.

They got off to the worst possible start, conceding after 10 minutes to Luke Callander and thereafter the wheels came off to end Tonbridge’s three-year stay in the Conference South.

After the game manager Tommy Warrilow confirmed he would be putting an end to his seven-year affiliation with the club and leave at the end of this season as they look to rebuild in the Isthmian

Premier League and bounce back at the first time of asking.

The race for the play-offs in the Premier and a place at the Wembley final to make the jump into the Football League is all but assured for the four teams in contention. Cambridge United and

Grimsby Town are guaranteed a place in the semis but both can have their own impact as to who joins them.

Braintree are three points behind FC Halifax Town and Gateshead in the last two spots and face Grimsby at home. Halifax’s superior goal difference should see them reach the play-offs but with

Gateshead hosting Cambridge it could be an eventful final day.

Goal difference permutations aside, a point for Halifax and Gateshead will make Braintree’s result irrelevant.

It’s a similar picture in the Conference South too. Sutton United and Bromley have assured their place in the play-offs but at least one of the two final play-off places will be decided on the final day of the season.

Ebbsfleet United are currently in fourth place on 68 points but had a game in hand against Concord Rangers, which was played last night. Concord will be playing their second match in two days having won 1-0 at Basingstoke Town on Wednesday.

The match last night was rearranged after last week’s game was abandoned due to floodlight failure, with Ebbsfleet winning 2-0. The Football Conference decided the game should be replayed in its entirety, a decision which Fleet uncessfully appealed. Should Steve Brown’s side win at the Aspect Arena they will be joining Sutton and Bromley in this season’s play-offs.

Havant & Waterlooville missed the chance to secure their place in the play-offs after a shock 3-1 defeat at relegation-threatened Maidenhead United, which in turn makes the relegation battle on the final day extremely enticing.

Havant are also on 68 points but just two ahead of Dover Athletic, who have been given a life-line to claim a top five finish and reach the play-off final as they did last year. All will be forgotten though if Havant can win at already relegated Tonbridge.

As mentioned, Maidenhead’s win against Ebbsfleet took them out of the relegation zone but they are now level on 45 points with Whitehawk and Hayes & Yeading. Just one goal places Whitehawk in the relegation zone over Maidenhead ahead of a nail-biting weekend which sees Hayes take on play-off chasers Dover, Whitehawk host Sutton and Maidenhead travel to Bishop’s Stortford.

One more day to go as clubs battle for title honours, play-off places and survival. To say it’s going to be a tense day would be an understatement.