Squeezing their way into the Conference play-offs - with a little help from Dino Maamria

Barnet may have romped to the 2004-5 Conference title, but the battle for the play-offs was a much tighter affair.

And come the end of the season, just three points separated Hereford United in second place and Morecambe in seventh.

Stevenage ultimately ended up being one of the lucky teams to squeeze into those four play-off berths, and it owed a great deal to some of their results against the teams around them – including a 1-0 win down at Aldershot Town on March 19.

A fortnight beforehand, Stevenage had completed a league double against Carlisle United, the team that ultimately ended their dreams of making the Football League. And like Carlisle, the Shots were very much in the thick of the play-off chase.

The odds would have been against Graham Westley’s men, but Dino Maamria’s early strike eventually capped a professional and determined defensive performance; one that secured all three valuable points at a time when matters were definitely hotting up.

Boro were in a superb position thanks to that win, one that was nearly wasted with a run of one win in four matches between March 28 and April 2. But it was victories such as this that meant Stevenage could have a tricky spell like that and still make keep the promotion push going.

* Pete Hayman runs BoroGuide, the Stevenage FC internet resource. For more information visit www.boroguide.co.uk or follow him on twitter @boroguide