WOMBWELL Town and Dearne and District play in NCEL Division One play-off semi-finals tomorrow and could meet in the final a week later.
Town missed out on the only automatic promotion place on the final day of the league season and finished second so will host fifth-placed Ilkley Town in their semi-final.
The other semi is Wakefield at home to Dearne, who play in Goldthorpe and finished fourth in their first season at the level.
Dearne manager Zeph Thomas said: “It would be carnage if we played Wombwell in the final.
“You might be looking at a couple of thousand in the crowd.
“That’s a little carrot for the lads.
“It would be great for their careers.
“Obviously we’re in the play-offs to win them but it’s one game at a time. Both us and Wombwell have really hard semi-finals which could go either way.”
Town won 4-1 at home to Barnsley rivals Athersley Rec in their final league game of the season.
Jack Dando and Edward Agnew bagged braces before Adam Stubbs pulled back for Rec who finished 18th.
Town needed to better the result of Horbury Town who beat Maltby 4-1 to take the title.
Manager Karl Rose said: “We knew that the only thing we could take care of was our business.
“It was a really big crowd, 431, which was a great occasion for both clubs.
“We won with four goals, and finished on 113 goals which is phenomenal.
“It was a dampener when we heard that Horbury were 3-0 up after 17 minutes. They are worthy champions so congratulations to them.
“We’re proud to get 94 points.
“We’ve had a great season. We’ve lost one in 19 in 2025 and still absolutely believe we will get promoted.”
On the play-off game, Rose said: “Ilkley finished fifth so they are obviously good. We beat them very early in the season but it doesn’t give us much of a guide. We played well away but conceded a late equaliser.
“They will play good football if we give them space.
“It’s a one-game shoot-out.
“We will go into it like we have all season. We spend so much time away from our families that we have to make sure we enjoy the journey.
“If we do that, do the right things and work hard, the result will take care of itself.”
Dearne and District won 5-2 at home to South Leeds in their final league game.
Curtis Wilkinson put them in front then, after the visitors went 2-1 up, Jamie Austin levelled with a penalty before completing his hat-trick with Jake Phillis also on target.
On facing Wakefield, Thomas said: “We’re up for it and excited. It should be a great game.
“We’re top of the form table for the last six games. We wanted to go unbeaten in those games and the players responded well.
“We’re in a good place.
“Wakey have got loads of quality and really good players, they added some more before the transfer deadline.
“They will be really good and we’ll have to raise our standards.
“Nobody will want to play us because, on our day if we turn up, we are one of the best teams in the league.
“It’s ahead of schedule for us as a club to be in the play-offs.
“I don’t think many people thought we would be up there. Someone told me the other day they thought we would be relegated this season.
“Wakefield have to win, they have been at it for the last three years.
“There is no pressure on us, we can just enjoy it, take in the occasion as underdogs and hopefully cause an upset. Our fans will turn out in force and we want to get a win for them.”
Worsbrough Bridge finished sixth, one place outside the play-offs, after a 2-2 draw at home to Armthorpe.
Finley Durkin and Jake Squires put Bridge 2-0 up but they conceded twice late on. It is Bridge’s highest ever finish in a 42-game season.
