North Hants side face eight games in 17 games

Tadley Calleva's fixture backlog could prove a stumbling block as they battle for a place in the Combined Counties Premier South play-offs.

Their 2-2 draw at rivals Alton on Saturday marked the start of a crazy 17-day spell that will see Tadley play eight games - playing on Tuesdays, Thursdays and Saturdays for the next two weeks before the return with Alton on April 1.

That's a ridiculous schedule at any time, and injuries, suspensions and further cancellations will only make matters worse.

And Tadley could be left rueing some controversial refereeing decisions that saw two players sent off on Saturday.

Tadley joint manager Ben Dillon said: "I am usually on the referee's side because I wouldn't want to do it, but the refereeing on Saturday was nothing short of shambolic.

"We had one player sent off for two soft yellow cards and a straight red for just a normal tackle - everyone was stunned to see a red card come out.

"We have got a video of the tackle and we will be appealing."

Alton had a player harshly sin-binned in the first half, but they went ahead in stoppage time.

Tadley levelled early in the second half with a good free-kick from Jordan Goater, and looked to be in charge when the home side had a player sent off for a foul on Sam Bagan.

Tadley took control and saw several good chances go begging before Alton made it 2-1 against the run of play.

Goater was then dismissed for his second booking before Brad Neal controversially saw red.

But Tadley's nine men kept battling and were rewarded in injury time when Keiran Rodger scored from the penalty spot.

Dillon said: "It is still in our own hands.

"We are four points off the play-offs with games in hand on all our rivals, but it's going to be a tough task with the amount of fixtures we've got to play.

Tadley are at home to Spelthorne Sports on Thursdaybefore travelling to AFC Croydon Athletic on Saturday.