Wingate & Finchley missed the chance to move level on points with leaders Dulwich Hamlet in the Ryman League Premier Division on Saturday after a late 1-0 home defeat against Billericay Town.

But club captain Marc Weatherstone felt his side arguably got a let-off as a number of their rivals suffered upsets, negating the damage done by their own slip-up.

Teddy Nesbitt’s 84th-minute volley meant Simon Lane’s hosts finished empty-handed – but the top two sides, Dulwich and second-placed Tonbridge Angels, also lost at home.

So, while Wingate were overtaken by Kingstonian and dropped to fourth place, they remain inside the play-off spots and three points off the top.

“We still feel confident, we still feel we’ll do well this year,” said Weatherstone. “It’s a bit disappointing because there have been four opportunities this year where we could have propelled ourselves high up the league that we unfortunately didn’t take.

“But there’s two ways you can look at it. A lot of the teams above us have lost as well so it’s either a chance missed or we’re quite lucky to stay where we are.

“We’re fourth so we’re still in and around the area. We’re playing well, we’ve got to move on to next Saturday and go from there. VCD Athletic is not an easy place to go to so we’ve got to play as well as we can, keep our heads and then I’m sure we’ll do well.”

Wingate host Cockfosters in the London Senior Cup this evening (Tuesday), kicking off at 7.45pm.