Any lingering hopes of Bishop Auckland avoiding a relegation place in the UniBond League First Division were virtually destroyed when they were beaten 3-1 at Gresley Rovers on Saturday.
The result leaves Bishops 14 points below safety and all that can save them is a reshuffle of the UniBond League.
Gresley took the lead through Aaron O'Connor after 15 minutes, then just before half-time Tom Betteridge scored the second from an O'Connor pass. Micky Lyons fired the third, before Richie Storr pulled one back for Bishops with a header.
Manager Brian Healy said: "We had as many chances as they did, but the difference was that they took theirs and we didn't.
"We didn't play well enough in some parts of the game, and we allowed ourselves to be bullied out of it.
"But we'll still keep battling away and try to win matches."
Bishops are at home to Goole on Wednesday.
In the Premier Division, Whitby's play-off hopes suffered a blow when they lost 4-2 at Ashton United, Danny Brunskill and Scott Nicholson scoring.
Blyth are still in the play-off zone, thanks to a Scott Bell goal just after half-time against Burscough.
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