Brighton and Hove take on Teddington on Sunday (2pm) in the Men's Hockey League at Blatchington Mill with the winners guaranteed a place in the restructured Division One (South) next season and the losers facing the possibility of missing out altogether.

Brighton are one of three teams battling for the two remaining spots in the top six of the Conference East going into this season's final round of matches. They and Teddington are level on points, two ahead of resurgent City of Peterborough, who must win their final match against bottom club Cambridge City to have any chance to move up from seventh.

A win for Brighton, currently sixth, will see them finish fifth but a draw or defeat would leave them sweating on Peterborough's result. A draw for Brighton and a Peterborough win by five goals would see the latter claim sixth place by virtue of more goals scored as the teams would be level on points and goal difference.

The team finishing seventh will go into a three-way playoff for the last two spots in Division One (South) next season.

This tense finale comes about after Brighton fell just short in a stirring second-half comeback at Canterbury on Sunday, when they lost 5-4 having trailed 5-1 shortly after half time. Meanwhile Teddington thrashed Cambridge 6-1 and Peterborough stayed alive with two very late goals in a 4-3 win against Old Loughtonians.

At Polo Farm, Teague Marcano scored twice in a minute to put Canterbury in front early only for Robbert Schenk to reduce the arrears for Brighton from open play after 16 minutes. Craig Boyne and William Mead struck for the home side before the break and when Matt Burton-Bowen hit a fifth in the first minute of the second half, Brighton looked sunk.

But as in recent weeks, Brighton came on strongly in the second half. Sam Rose struck from a short corner, the USA-bound Schenk grabbed his 14th goal of the season by converting a penalty stroke and then leading scorer Joe Naughalty made it 5-4 with four minutes to go from a penalty corner, his 16th of the campaign, in a thrilling finish.

All supporters are welcome at Blatchington at Sunday lunchtime to see the last-day drama unfold. The clubhouse will be open.

The 2s ended their disappointing Kent/Sussex Regional League season in last place with a 4-2 defeat at Holcombe 2s.

In Sussex League division one, the 3s edged out Horsham 3s 2-1 in their final game to clinch fifth place.

Skipper Andrew Bromley reports: "The final game of the season saw the men's 3s take on Horsham 3s - a game which had been an absolute thriller before Christmas. This was a slightly cagier affair as both teams looked to take control of the game.

"Dave Bockett Pugh opened the scoring with a neat finish from a broken down corner. Chris Page then increased the lead with his 17th goal of the season. At half time the discussion was primarily about maintaining the positive approach and enjoying ourselves. We came out of the blocks at full pelt and Horsham managed to scramble the ball away, preventing our third goal.

"Unfortunately our oppo then scored and made things a little tighter! We maintained control and surprisingly kept our heads, despite having two goals disallowed. All in all an important three points as we prepare for the Sussex Cup final.

"MoM - Harley Harden. Dod - Phil Orriss."

The 4s closed their league campaign with a hefty 7-2 defeat by Horsham 2s to end up eighth.

"A very fit and skilful Horsham side took an early 3-0 lead and things were looking very grim for a while," reports captain Carlo Missirian. "4-1 at half time, a great drag from Doc, and much better possession and passing from us saw a glimpse of hope.

"Second half we continued to play the better hockey and Alex da Souza crossed the ball and their centre forward deflected it in. At 4-2 we really had them wobbling but they managed to score a couple of quick goals to put it out of reach.

"We created enough chances in both halves to cause them a lot of problems but the result was fair and never in question. What was lovely to see was the fact that we never gave up and always tried to play our hockey. Great to see Ant back and Dan Hore joining the Rocks ranks!

"MOM - Will Ireland has shown great improvement at a difficult standard and had a great game!

"DoD - Ant, first game of the season and first pass in the first two minutes to their centre forward who scored!"

In division two the 5s finished their season on a low note when the runners-up lost 3-1 at home to lowly Mid Sussex 3 and, similarly, the 6s campaign in division three came to a disappointing conclusion with a 4-3 defeat by Horsham 4s in a game between two mid-table teams.

Kevin Mould's summation was: "This game was representative of our season. Some good link up across the pitch, good finishes, a good feel to the game but on the wrong side of the result. I'm not sure if DOD was decided upon so we'll leave that there..."

In division four the 7s lost their way in the second-half at Horsham 5s and went down 3-0.

Gary Revel-Chion reports: "This really was 'a game of two halves'. In the first half we played good hockey with snappy passing and created several chances. Unfortunately, as so often this season, our inability to finish off these chances was to come back to haunt us.

"In the second half we switched off, lost our passing game and we were very poor. We weren't helped by three injuries but really brought about our own downfall. Thanks to Ian for putting on the pads in the absence of a regular keeper, otherwise probably a game to forget."

The 8s faced a tough assignment at home against top of the table St Francis 2s, who had scored 11 goals the week before, but played well in a 3-1 defeat reports Matt Sale.

"As expected the 8s were on the back foot from the off, soaking up a lot of pressure. However the 8s started to get a foothold in the game and frustrated their opponents. St Francis scored a goal after 25 minutes and a further two during the second half. The 8s never gave up and Duke Quinton scored a superb reverse into the bottom corner on the stroke of full time. A great performance from the team against a strong experienced opposition."