The scoreline says nothing about the game and how close it was for lengthy periods. Billingham a very strong team, virtually unrecognisable from the team we played in the cup a couple of months ago, had clearly taken this game very seriously and made absolutely certain that they were going to field their best possible eleven. Their substitutes’ bench contained some of their starting players the last time we played them. And let us not make excuses; this was an excellent footballing side that we found ourselves pitted against and we were going to have to play well above ourselves, and Billingham well below par, for us to obtain the win we so desperately needed to keep alive our championship hopes.

A reasonably calm day greeted us and agreeably pleasant playing conditions meant that the elements were not going to act as an equaliser. We wouldn’t have wanted it differently. We set our stall out with a 4-5-1 formation and stressed the need for a collective effort, plenty of talking, composure, hard work and a focussed, concentrated approach from everybody. And how that worked for 25 minutes! Apart from a couple of dead ball situations, where excellent deliveries into our box saw threatening headers, we thwarted all of Billingham’s open play moves and then magnificently took the lead. Matty Horner, who had an excellent all-round game, burst through the right of the Billingham defence, cut into their box and was crudely hacked down from behind. Penalty! However, and sadly, not for the only time in the game, our match official was seeing a totally different game, as he awarded a free kick outside the area. He will not come across a more compliant team as ours, for we manfully accepted the decision, took the free kick and there was Kevin, our outstanding player on the day, to crack in an unstoppable shot beyond their hapless keeper. 1 – 0 and Billingham looked bewildered.

How might the game have turned out differently but for a completely fluke equaliser? A speculative shot was caught by the breeze and had Michael, who had another sound game for us, struggling to get a good, strong wrist to the ball. He managed to get a hand to it and the ball hit the crossbar, came down and then incredibly spun back into the net. It was a bitter blow and occurred just at the right time for Billingham. What happened in the final ten minutes was we collectively switched off, lost our shape and conceded two more goals before the interval. It was a terrible travesty and in that ten minutes, we basically handed the championship to our opponents. It was our worst spell of the game and ultimately cost us it.

Tim changed things round at half time and we went 4-3-3; we were now chasing the game and needed to put them under pressure and how close we came too. After excellent work from Richie, Jamie and Matty H, Will had a wonderful opportunity to score from the almost exact position, from which they had scored their third goal. He made firm contact with the ball, but sadly it flew over the bar. How that might have changed the whole complexion and shape of the game if it had gone in, because Billingham grabbed their fourth shortly afterwards in horrible circumstances. We failed to clear the ball, when we had the chance, but that did not mean that a goal should be allowed from such a blatantly off-side position! The decision to allow the goal was even more galling when Richie had been given off-side, literally a minute before the goal, when he was clearly not active. 4 – 1 was almost too much to bear and it gave Billingham the cushion they needed and their football from there on in was top-class at times. It was now a case of how much pride we had left in us. Tiger never took a step back; Chrissie and Matty B went toe to toe and Jamie was as physical and aggressive as the two players who man-marked him all game. Duncan came on for Ste, who was struggling with an injury, and his muscular, no nonsense presence was a much needed boost. Despite the effort, Billingham scored a fifth and it was now really back to the wall stuff. They were jubilant, confident and dominant. And this was the time, more than any other, that Tim and Rog took most pride in our team, because we dug in deep, lifted our heads and then promptly went up the other end and scored, when Jamie headed strongly past their static keeper. Indeed, we finished the stronger and looked more likely to score again.

I am not going to enter into a tirade against our match official; that is not our way. Billingham, when they field this team, are a class act and we were always going to have to have some fortune and some decisions going our way to prevail over them. On the day, we got neither and then some!! However, summed up simply and brutally, we lost to a much better side, but the scoreline deeply flattered them, and but for a disastrous ten minutes at the end of the first half, the thought will always be in my mind: what might have been if we had reached half-time 1 – 0 up? We’ll never know!

What Have We learnt:

We sometimes have to accept that we have been out-played.
You don’t always get what you deserve in this life, but if you accept that, you can only get stronger as a result.


Quote of the Week:

“The day you take complete responsibility for yourself, the day you stop making any excuses, that’s the day you start to the top.” - O. J. Simpson (before he started “mis-behaving”!)