The sense of despair engendered by the sight of Paul Kane’s unstoppable, 30 yard thunderbolt, wind assisted naturally, billowing in the net behind the despairing leap of Shaun Backhouse in the 84th minute of this game was almost too heartbreaking to contemplate. Having fought back from 2-0 down, one goal seemingly three yards offside and the other raising the bar yet higher in the Stan’s contest to concede the most farcical goal of the season in any level of football, then hitting the frame of the goal three times and twice having goals ruled out for offside, before achieving parity and then seeing the hosts reduced to 10 men following the dismissal of Aaron Croft for his second bookable offence, namely holding back Jonathan Wright as The Stan striker burst through, the travelling contingent from NE7 had dared to dream. The old truism remains demonstrably the case; despair we can all cope with, but it truly is the hope that none of us can stand.
Chris Winn, seemingly standing in a clearly offside position, gave the home side the lead on 3 minutes when fastening on to an aimless through ball, as Washington advanced over the halfway line for the first time since kick off. The Stan took this decision with good grace and tried to get back on level terms; on 5 minutes Anthony Johnson broke free on the left and squared to the returning Jonathan Wright whose first time effort struck the underside of the bar and bounced away.
A minute later Johnson pounced on a fumble by the home keeper and steered the loose ball home but was contentiously given offside. Wright tested the keeper with a low drive he scrambled away, before Johnson fired just over the angle of bar and post.
A double injury blow saw Gary McGarrigal and Paul Mills replaced by Gary Dixon and Kevin Carr, before a woeful mix up in The Stan defence saw Winn able to loft the ball into an empty net. This was not the signal for The Stan to fold; Phil Smith crashed a shot against the top of the bar, before Wright and then Paul Blakey were denied by the keeper’s feet.
The final action of the first half saw Blakey hit the post with a header, as The Stan refused to lie down.
The fruits of such determination were harvested in the second period when, other than a miraculous save by Backhouse from Kane, Washington offered nothing, with Fairley anonymous and the ageing, ponderous Southern contributing nothing other than a long overdue booking.
The Stan were straight out the blocks after the interval and Wright was unceremoniously hauled down in the box. He picked himself and coolly slotted the resultant spot kick to the other side of the diving keeper.
Momentum was truly with the visitors and Kevin Carr’s 60 yard run almost saw him bring the sides level, but his shot lacked power. The equaliser when it came was provided by Wright, for Phil Smith to gleefully slam home from close range. With an increasingly fractious home side looking ragged and a great Stan performance pushing them back, there looked to be only one winner.
Sadly, the unpredictable nature of the game came true once again as Washington progressed to the final, courtesy of Kane’s long distance exocet and The Stan were required to be as characteristically dignified in defeat as ever. Heads up lads; our day will come.
Heaton Stannington: Unknown.
Subs Not Used:
Goals: Wright 50, Smith 68.
Yellow Cards: Davison.
Attendance:
Kevin Mochrie