clear as mud.

Although Devonshire Cougars extricated themselves slightly from the mire with a single goal victory over an FA Cup final-preoccupied Devonshire Colts on Friday night, allowing them to leapfrog Hotels and Somerset, results yesterday failed to decide for sure which two clubs out of the four under threat will be playing Second Division football next season.

PHC struggled to a 1-1 draw with Dandy Town at PHC Stadium -- the goal action being packed into the first quarter of an hour of the game -- while Hotels, two points ahead of them before the start, suffered their first defeat in three meetings with Boulevard this season, going down 2-1 despite taking a 13th minute lead through Marlon Lindsay.

By 4.45 yesterday afternoon, just three points separated the bottom four sides.

PHC remain at the foot of the table on 14 points, with Hotels and Somerset a point ahead, the former with a superior goal difference of one. Cougars have 17 points, but with by far the worst goal difference of the four, a remnant of their disastrous first half of the season.

Somerset, however, have a game in hand on the others after their match against Vasco on Saturday night was washed out. It has been rescheduled for tonight at 9.00 p.m, when Randy Horton's men will have their work cut out to take anything from a team unbeaten in 23 matches.

Victory for Somerset, unlikely as it may be, would virtually ensure them of survival, putting them out of reach of PHC on 18 points, and only catchable by Hotels on goal difference.

But they may take heart from the old adage that all good things must come to an end and the possibility that John Rebello could field a weakened team with his two-pronged attack on the Friendship and FA Cup finals still to come.

Such an outcome would increase the pressure on Cougars, who must play Vasco themselves in their final game at PHC Stadium next Sunday.

PHC, meanwhile, must travel to Southampton Oval to play Rangers, who picked up a point in a 1-1 draw with North Village in the one game yesterday that meant nothing in relegation terms.

And Hotels will be hoping for an accommodating performance from Devonshire Colts in their meeting scheduled for BAA Field.