Just a few weeks after bemoaning non-League football’s slow wheels of justice in the Rob Tolfrey affair, the Football Association has surpassed itself by making a dog’s dinner of the end of the Ryman Premier League season.

Tolfrey not only accepted a seven-match ban for jumping into the crowd to confront a Bognor Regis fans with dignity, but he also maintained his impressive form during the window of uncertainty so Ks fans named the goalkeeper as supporters’ player of the year.

But if the FA got there in the end over Tolfrey, spare a thought for Enfield Town and Met Police, who were still in the dark about whether their respective seasons had finished days after the campaign’s final game.

In the case of Blues goalkeeper Stuart Searle, he was left not knowing if he has played his last Ryman League game having decided to hang up his boots.

It was all because the FA took so long to make a decision over the strange case of fielding the ineligible Aryan Tajbaksh in two matches even though the case came to light in February.

Enfield don’t deny the player should have been suspended – saying it was they who highlighted his previous clubs VCD Athletic and Cheshunt had not properly documented his bookings – and then followed Ryman League advice to leave the 24-year-old out of the next two games.

However, last Friday, the day before the final game of the season the FA found Enfield guilty, leaving them facing a three-point deduction.

To add to the drama, Met Police scored twice in the last 10 minutes to beat Hornchurch 2-1 and – given the FA’s track record on ineligible players – assumed that they would be taking their place in the play-offs.

Now a decision has been handed down and a points deduction means Met Police have their place in the play-off – but would it not have been better if this decision had been made months ago, and everyone knew where they stood?