Cambridge United made sure of a play-off place with a 2-1 win at Salisbury City, although with a possible tilt at the title at stake the second half was a sometimes nervous affair.

Scott Rendell tapped in his thirteenth Blue Square Premier goal of the season to open the scoring after 19 minutes and United looked set to build on that goal in a confident and creative opening spell, but Salisbury got back into the game and leading scorer Charlie Griffin levelled on 32.

A moment of brilliance from Andy Parkinson in first half stoppage time restored United's lead, and in front of 755 away fans United played out a tense second half to secure a play-off place and go into the final day of the season with an outside chance of the title.

"That was a really hard game," commented Gary Brabin afterwards. "Some of the things you hear beforehand sound really easy when you say it dead quick - 'Go there and win four-nil, then win there three-nil' - but it's not like that. This is a tough place to go and we weren't shocked last week when Torquay drew here.

"A few teams have come here this season and come unstuck, and we've come here today with a lot of pressure on us.

"In one way I'm trying to say to the lads that we've got nothing to lose, just go out there to secure a place in the play-offs and see what happens in the play-offs. But the lads and myself have had so many texts in the last 24 hours and everyone's a mathematician," he added.

"It sounds easy; 'all you've got to do is win four-nil!', but that wasn't the case and it was a tough game.

"First and foremost I just wanted three points and we started brilliantly and looked really sharp. After we scored I thought we were in full momentum and looked like we were going to get two or three, then Salisbury put us under a lot of pressure for 20 minutes and put us on the back foot for a bit.

"Credit to them for scoring and as a team we looked a bit nervy then, which is understandable, then Andy Parkinson scored at the right time just before half-time. The second half was nervy and it was a bit dead at times, but before the game I would have taken a win no matter how many goals."

United go into the final day three points and four goals behind leader Burton, who have lost four of their last five games and spurned another opportunity to tie up the title when they lost to Oxford on Friday night, and Brabin is delighted with his players for taking the title race to the last day.

"Let's all just enjoy next week, we're in with a chance and let's see what happens," he said. "As a club we all have something to really look forward to now in our last game of the season; we've got a chance of promotion and we're expecting a massive crowd, and there's everything to play for.

"The onus is still on Burton," he cautioned. "There's one game left and they're four goals better off than us, but we're in a great position and at least we've taken it to the last day of the season."

Having taken United to the play-offs in his first full season as a manager, Brabin played down talk of any personal achievement, saying, "I just want to win football matches and I'm not bothered about my own managerial 'career' as such. I want us to get promotion and I believe we're good enough to do that.

"It's a big ask because we're relying on someone else to get beaten and we've got a lot of goals to catch up, and we've got a tough home game against Altrincham too, but in the past this league has been won with ten games to go and we've taken it to the wire so I'm proud of the lads for that.

"It's not been an easy season. It's been a great season but there have been a lot of ups and downs, so I'm proud of all the lads for taking it to the last game."

United's final league game is at home to Altrincham next Sunday at 4pm. The match is not all-ticket but a larger than normal crowd is anticipated so supporters are advised to purchase tickets in advance where possible. The Ticket Office will be open as usual Monday-Friday next week, closed on Saturday, but open again from 9am next Sunday before the game.

The 'early purchase' deadline for Season Tickets is at noon on Friday - full details of prices, savings and an application form here.

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