90 Minutes Is Not Enough

by Robert Mann

  The Centaur Centre at Cheltenham Racecourse had never seen anything like it in its relatively short lifespan. An hour before kick off the ‘full up’ signs had gone up outside the racecourse, with disappointed latecomers rushing to find a pub that was showing the game and a mass of Redbourne banners and flags hung from the upper tier of the auditorium. Coverage from Whaddon Road started about an hour before the game with Stew Redbourne’s customary pre match banter and music. The transmission also went out live at Ashton Gate where about seven thousand Bristol City fans had gathered.

  In the home dressing room as the players readied themselves for kick off nerves were really starting to affect many of the Redbourne players. A lot of their pre match rituals seemed to have gone out of the window and there was a steady queue for the toilets! Terrance looked at his team, truth be told he felt as nervous as a lot of them looked! Miles Grimley at that point, very unusually for him stuck his head round the door of the changing rooms and smiled benevolently at everyone

  "Alright Tel my boy"

  he boomed

  "I've got a good feeling about tonight! Give it your best shot lads. I reckon the whole of Gloucestershire is routing for us!"

  Minutes later Deborah and her younger sister rose with the rest of the crowd to welcome The Countrymen as a huge roar erupted from all four sides of the ground. Simultaneous roars welcomed the two teams at The Centaur and down the M5 at Ashton Gate. A light breeze caused the flotilla of red and black balloons that the home fans had released to welcome Redbourne to blow over to one side of the pitch where they lay like an undulating sea of changing red and black colours. Groundstaff initially started to try and burst them but realising that they were not getting in the way of the linesman they let them be.

  The Bristol City skipper Louis Carey won the toss and chose to swap ends forcing Redbourne to attack the C and G home end much to the disgust of the home fans who gave Adriano Basso a torrid reception his heroics of the first leg still fresh in Redbourne fans minds!

  The game started in a crescendo of noise with the travelling Bristol City fans really making themselves heard. However on the pitch the opening exchanges were error strewn with both sides having a severe attack of the jitters! The first worthwhile chance of the game came on the fifteen-minute mark. A terrible back pass by Keogh let the ever-alert Dwight Edwards in one on one with Basso. Basso was beaten and Dwight rolled the ball agonizingly inches past the far post. A huge roar of anguish echoed round three sides of Whaddon Road. A few miles across town the roof was almost lifted off The Centaur Centre!

  Boosted by their near miss Redbourne began to up the play really hemming Bristol City back into their own half. Still a goal would not come. Terry Pauls was at last starting to find a modicum of space and shot narrowly wide from distance with Basso scrambling across his goal to cover.

  The last quarter of the first half saw the game swing dramatically with Bristol City in the ascendancy pushing the Redbourne defence hard. Suddenly it was Scott Brown wriggling free of Chopper's attentions who was causing panic. His shot was fiercely hit and rebounded away off the post Dave Francis well beaten! The gasps of disbelief this time came from the thousand or so Bristol City fans, amid sharp intakes of breath from the home masses clad in red and black! Again it was the Bristol City attack causing chaos with Jennison Myrie-Williams bravely connecting with a diving header amongst the flailing boots of the Redbourne defence. With Dave Francis beaten it was the Redbourne captain Jock Mcleish who somehow cleared the ball off the line and over his own bar from an impossible angle!

  As the clock ticked away towards half time it was the sound of Bristol voices in unison that could be heard around Whaddon Road. Redbourne were visibly wilting under the onslaught of the men in all gold kits and the home fans were whistling frantically for the half time whistle. When it came the fact that they were not behind was more by luck than judgement. Terrance knew he had some serious work to do in the half time interval if The Countrymen's dream of Wembley was going to stay alive!

  Terrance didn't like having to have a serious go at any of his players during the half time interval. It just wasn't his style. However though there had been just too many players under performing in the first half and the ends here certainly justified the means.

  "That was probably the worse forty five minutes of football I have seen from you lot all season” stormed Terrance, deliberately shouting

  "Midfield we were a joke except for odd moments. Jock and Terry get a grip and leave the defence to do their job! Forwards you vanished off the pitch after the first twenty minutes! Angelo, Dwight are you two actually playing in the same match as us? I expect better no I demand better from you all as a team. Believe in yourselves and stop being overawed by the occasion!"

  There was absolute silence in the home dressing room when Terrance had stopped! It was so unlike him! Half a dozen “sorry boss” and muttered apologies followed!

  Redbourne started off the second half far more brightly. Terry Pauls had received express instructions to push right up behind the front two and worry the hell out of the Bristol City defence! Push up he did causing the balance of the game to change dramatically. A poor clearance by Keogh after only five minutes of the second half was seized on hungrily by Terry Pauls about twenty-five yards from goal. He sidestepped a lunging challenge from the Bristol City captain Carey before sending a thunderbolt of a shot into the top left hand corner of the net! Basso, good keeper that he was didn't even have a chance to move - such was the quality of the strike.

  Terry Paul's goal celebrations all season had been quite reserved but given the significance of this game he went absolutely mad! Racing to the nearest home side of the stadium he celebrated with the crowd as a mini pitch invasion engulfed him and other delirious Redbourne players. Stewards moved in gently but forcibly to clear the home fans off the pitch! The Centaur Centre had experienced some crowd roars during the Cheltenham Festival when there had been close finishes to races up the famous Cheltenham hill but nothing like the roar when Terry's shot hit the back of the net. Even experienced bar staff that worked the venue regularly admitted that it had made the hair on the back of their necks stand up from the sheer passion and unbridled joy that came out through it!

  At Ashton Gate fourteen days ago the song had been sung by the Redbourne fans in hope and with a bit of novelty value. Now with forty minutes between their side and a place in the new Wembley's inaugural final it started in the C and G and spread rapidly to the other two home sides

  "We’re going to Wembley Que sera sera" as six thousand Gloucestershire voices joined in unison. The stands were a solid mass of scarves and flags being waved as the home fans really allowed their emotions to come to the fore! Deborah and her sister only recently converted to the Redbourne cause both had tears in their eyes. It was that kind of night! Similar raw emotions were being experienced by the fans watching at the Centaur Centre. The Bristol City fans inside the stadium and at Ashton Gate could only sit, watch and pray that their team could get back into it!

  Back on the pitch Redbourne were in total command playing the ball round imperiously. A superb ball by Jock Mcleish sent Jermaine Douglas Redbourne's young winger haring away down the right. The cross was inch perfect the Bristol City defence hopelessly exposed yet again. Angelo Mizuel should have scored with his header but directed it straight at a grateful Adriano Basso in the Robins goal. The young Spanish attacker distraught at his miss held his head in his hands for many seconds after the save.

  In the technical area Terrance watched with concern and motioned to the even younger Ian Hargreaves to get warmed up. It looked to him as if Angelo had gone mentally and they couldn't afford passengers at this point in the game! Five minutes latter with Angelo still obviously struggling the substitution was made and Angelo came off to a generous round of applause.

  Redbourne still pushed forward. Terrance was determined that they would not sit back and allow The Robins to come on to them like they did in the closing stages
of the first half. Ian Hargreaves showing searing pace burst into the Bristol City penalty area. A roar of anticipation came from the home fans. Up at the Centaur no one was sitting down any more such was the tension as likewise they screamed their encouragement. At the crucial moment a tackle came in from Louis Carey. It was totally mistimed taking the youngsters legs rather than the ball!

  "Penalty" was the roar that went up! The referee had no hesitation and pointed straight to the spot! Most of the ground erupted; a cauldron of noise, a scene that was repeated up at the Centaur. Jock made a point of congratulating Ian before picking up the ball and advancing on the penalty spot. The ground had quietened remarkably as seven thousand fans held their breath! With ten minutes left a two goal advantage would surely see Redbourne through. The shot was hard and true to the right hand side of the goal just evading the diving Basso but hit the combination of post and bar and rebounded to safety! It was now Jock's turn to look stunned as the home fans held their heads in their hands and the Bristol City fans celebrated in relief!

  It was now score or bust for Bristol City and desperate measures were called for with time rapidly running out. Up front to reinforce the Robins attack went Phil Jevons and Louis Carey went into midfield. The siege was now on as the nature of the game changed yet again. The Robins were throwing caution to the wind and flooding bodies forward in the hope of snatching an equaliser and sending the game into extra time! Inside the stadium it was a cacophony of noise with all fans on their feet urging their team on. Similar scenes were being witnessed at the Centaur as the match drew to a dramatic finale!

  It was a case of kick it anywhere now for Redbourne the higher and the further the better! Ian Hargreaves was a lone figure up front as players in red and black blocked and desperately cleared again and again. Ten minutes seemed like ten hours to fans and players alike but at last the fourth official put up the board to say there would be two minutes time added on to play. The tension was such that Terrance and Gary Johnson were being almost restrained in turn by the fourth official from encroaching on to the field of play! Then at last the pressure was released as Ian Hargreaves broke away on his own to a roar of relief from the Redbourne fans. Just as he got into the City half the referee mindful that he was near the tunnel blew for full time!

  The floodgates were released physically and emotionally as the shattered Bristol City players slumped to the ground. Terrance Fletcher was a proud man and applauded the three home sides and his team before walking off smiling leaving his victorious team to celebrate. Celebrate they certainly did spraying champagne from the director's box onto the ecstatic Redbourne fans below them. A huge banner had been hung from the directors box-it read

  "Redbourne Rovers Johnstone’s Paint Trophy Finalists Wembley 2007"

  It was a good hour before the last of the delirious home fans left the stadium and partying went on well into the night in Redbourne and Cheltenham! Later that night Terry Pauls and Deborah became lovers-it seemed the only right and natural ending to a momentous day for both of them!

  24

  A Six Week Love Affair

  Deborah never expected to fall for someone five years younger than herself and especially so soon after being treated so badly by Oliver. There was something though about this young red haired midfielder that made her feel very warm inside and want to smile the whole time that they were together. They lay there in bed the morning after the area final 2nd leg both feeling like life just couldn't be any better, Terry in love for the first time in his life and about to play at the new Wembley in his first season as a professional player and Deborah having her trust in men re-ignited and as an avid Redbourne fan and employee!

  Outside Redbourne was just beginning to wake up with a collective hangover to rival several New Year's Eves all put together! Nobody could quite believe what had happened the night before and newspaper sales went through the roof with fans avidly reading accounts of the victory over Bristol City on their way to work. The local Redbourne Gazette was working flat out to bring out a special commemorative edition, which would hit the newsagents at midday.

  Football had a history of throwing up strange pairings over the years and Redbourne's opponents in six weeks at Wembley were no less than their great rivals in the promotion race to Division One Hartlepool United. Hartlepool had overcome Doncaster Rovers 3-1 over the two legs of the northern area final. Redbourne Rovers would thus play them twice on consecutive weekends at home in the league at the end of March then at Wembley! Before then The Countrymen had five hugely important league games, which would definitely shape the course of their season. Looking at the fixture list over his morning coffee, Terrance ever the professional, knew his motivational skills in the next six weeks would be even more important than normal if Redbourne Rovers season wasn't going to finish at Wembley on April 1st.Redbourne faced away trips to Bury, Stockport and Wrexham and home games against Walsall and Notts County before the huge double header against Hartlepool!

  All that Redbourne Rovers fans could think of though was the trip to Wembley and behind the scenes fevered preparations were being made to cope with the huge demand that there was expected to be for tickets. Privately Miles Grimley was a worried man. Temporary staff were being taken on by the club in the ticket office with applicants being interviewed later this week, longer opening hours were being discussed and extra telephone lines being put in. Miles though just didn’t think that they could cope with the demand despite outside agencies like Ticketmaster also selling for them. The Football League had informed Miles that both clubs would have 35,000 tickets available to them if they needed them. It was a welcome relief to Miles when one of his first callers on the Friday before Redbourne’s away match with Bury was the Cheltenham Chairman Paul Baker. The offer from Paul was one that would seal the hand of friendship between the two clubs and their fans for many years to come. Cheltenham Town would sell match tickets for the Johnstones Paint Trophy Final on Redbourne’s behalf to ease the pressure on the temporary ticket office at Redbourne and Deborah’s soon to be beleaguered staff! All that Cheltenham would ask in return was that their operating costs including wages of their staff were covered. Tickets were due to go on sale a week on Monday and the Redbourne Gazette covered this unprecedented act of friendship and generosity in their Saturday edition of the paper.

  Redbourne’s trip to Gigg Lane went superbly. The team was still buzzing from Tuesday’s victory and reaching the final. Around five hundred jubilant Countrymen fans cheered every move that the team made during the ninety minutes of football and saw their team complete its second double of the season with a comfortable 2-0 victory. Both goals came courtesy of Jermaine Easter fast finding his feet in the Redbourne team. Redbourne stayed 4th but closed the gap on all three teams in front of them, Lincoln losing and Yeovil and Hartlepool only drawing.

  Full details of the ticketing arrangements for Wembley took up two pages of the home programme for the game against Walsall the following Saturday. The ticket offices of both Redbourne and Cheltenham were braced for an onslaught with a huge number of phone enquiries already having come in. The commercial manager of Redbourne had assured Miles that Wembley memorabilia would be on sale Monday too, to coincide with the tickets going on sale. A full page advert in the programme showed you exactly what you would be able to purchase from a souvenir pen to set of pint glasses through to a huge Redbourne flag! Almost everyone and everything had been catered for!

  The two games against The Saddlers had been one of the first set of fixtures that many Redbourne fans had looked out for when the fixtures had first come out pre season with Walsall being the closest thing that they had got to a local derby. However the run up to this game had almost been over shadowed by the achievement of getting to Wembley. Richard Money’s Walsall unluckily relegated at the end of the previous season had regrouped over the summer and had been in the top six all season albeit always just below Redbourne.

  Terrance Fletcher knew that they would be a huge threat with the li
kes of Martin Butler and Dean Keates up front who had been causing chaos to 2nd Division defences all season. In front of another full house at Whaddon Road his prognosis was not wrong as Walsall went for Redbourne from the start roared on by a sold out away following. It took them just ten minutes to breach the home defence, Martin Butler ghosting in at the far post totally losing the Redbourne left back James Grimms and making it 1-0 with a deft header.

  In a cracking atmosphere akin to a cup tie it took Redbourne until midway through the 2nd half to draw level. The scorer was Jermaine Douglas, Redbourne’s speedy winger’s first goal of the season. Terrance had often harangued him about not getting in enough scoring positions but this one was a cracker worth waiting for, cutting in from the wing and curling a peach of a shot beyond Ince in the Walsall goal. Both teams wanted the win but try as they might there was no further scoring. The gap to the Hartlepool at the top again was six points!

  By the time Redbourne Rovers played again it was March and the club and town were in the grip of Wembley mania! Demand for tickets was huge and it was estimated that around 10,000 had been sold in the first week of sales alone. A small matter of an away game to Wrexham snapping at their heels in the playoffs was a reality check to all! In front of a crowd of 8000 passionate Welshmen at the Racecourse Ground and with an unusually small contingent of away fans Redbourne were soundly beaten 3-1 their worse defeat of the season and dropped down a place to 5th.Terrance Fletcher was not happy and promised wholesale changes next time Redbourne played.