A win away to bottom-of-the-league Greenwich Borough on Saturday will ensure Sittingbourne definitely avoid relegation this season.
Victory would give them 38 points and Greenwich wouldn’t be able to overhaul that in their final four games of the season.
Their remarkable run of five successive wins has taken Sittingbourne to the brink of safety after they’d sunk as low as second bottom in the Bostik South East League at one stage.
The turnabout in fortunes was sparked by the arrival in January of Chris Lynch as manager, and as soon as Sittingbourne are mathematically safe from the drop he’ll start planning in earnest for next season.
His new-look side have suffered a setback in their last two games, losing to Kent rivals Whitstable and then 3-0 to Hythe Town last Saturday.
The margin of victory flattered Hythe with Sittingbourne creating lots of chances to get something from the game but failing to take advantage of any of them.
They’ve also had to go into recent matches with a makeshift central defensive pairing as Lex Allan and Josh Spencer are out with long-term injuries, Ben Fitchett was recalled by Margate and Tommy Fagg has been away for three games.
Not that their replacements have let anyone down, and whoever plays there is gaining invaluable experience for the future.
Sittingbourne have been fielding a very young side ever since Lynch took over, and that’s not going to change even as he approaches the challenge of next season.
Saturday’s opponents Greenwich have had a disappointing season after reaching the play-offs the past two years.
They’ve lost their last three matches and have only won twice this year, and are now four points adrift at the bottom of the division.
Greenwich provided Sittingbourne’s first opponents of this season at Woodstock, the Brickies winning an entertaining match 4-2.
Sittingbourne have had mixed success on Greenwich’s Eltham ground, losing 5-1 there last season but winning 3-1 the previous year.