We Did It!

The unimaginable ups and downs of the season continued right up to the very last minute of this most dramatic of seasons...which now goes into overtime with a play-off semi-final at Nuneaton Town.

If you had sent this script to a publisher it would have been returned marked "good, but the end is just silly". Where do I begin in explaining the emotions that had me feeling physically sick throughout much of Saturday afternoon? How do you even begin to contemplate the fact that we have reached the play-offs by getting two points and one goal in our last three games of the season?

Remember the scenario? Bury Town were at bottom of the table Malvern Town, the league's whipping boys. Assuming that the Suffolk side picked up the three easy points Chesham simply had to win against mid-table Bromsgrove Rovers.

It started badly. First Chesham went a goal behind, and then word got through that Bury Town had gone 1-0 up at Malvern. The wheels had well and truly come off our season.

Chesham were creating chances, Burnell might have had a hat-trick by the break, but it wasn't happening. After the break Dom Marsala hit the post, but Bromsgrove still threatened on the break. I imagined that Bury were half way to a cricket score at Malvern, contemplating a declaration...I didn't want to know. Chesham had to score two goals.

A reckless challenge by substitute Josh Cooper left the referee with little choice other than to show the red card. Chesham were down to ten men and losing 1-0. We needed to score two goals. By now I was fuming, I didn't know what to do with myself. I went behind the goal to help with some singing, but the red card had dented all morale and I couldn't stand the silence so I went stomping back around to the terrace in front of the clubhouse...

With 5 minutes to go Danny Burnell scored. 1-1. The heat was on, Chesham had 5 minutes to throw everything at getting one more goal to take us into the play-offs.

As the atmosphere began to grow for the first time since 3.06pm when Bromsgrove scored, the afternoon took its most unbelievable turn of the whole season.

"Malvern have equalised" Did I hear that right? Someone on the terrace said Malvern had got a late equaliser against Bury? No, that cannot be right. It is impossible to describe the feeling of watching the game in front of you, desperate for a Chesham winner, but all around you people are trying to find out if we had another lifeline. If both Bury and Chesham draw then it is Chesham in the play-offs...I had not even contemplated anything other than a Bury victory.

Concrete confirmation finally came through from Malvern that it was indeed 1-1 there (you can never be certain when you hear these rumours. I remember many years ago when Chesham and Basingstoke were going for the league title, we were down in Canvey Island seconds away from guaranteeing promotion with another win; when Basingstoke called to ask us the score we said we were losing! Evil).

So, there we are with 2 minutes of the season remaining desperate for either a Chesham goal or the final whistle at Malvern. The emotions going through the body simply undescribable.

I was on the phone to Dave Jeffrey who was stood with noisy fans behind the goal, I was standing next to Brian McCarthy who was on the phone to Malvern Town, listening through the final seconds there...Chesham were still attacking.

"It's finished has it? Thank you very much" Brian sounded so calm.

"IT'S OVER. BURY HAVE DRAWN. THEY'VE FINISHED, MALVERN I LOVE YOU..." I don't think I gave Dave a chance to answer on the end of line as I went jumping along the terrace telling anyone and everyone the news. The same news began to spread behind the goal and soon the huge cloud of depression that seemed to loom over The Meadow all afternoon lifted and new hope and optimism shined.

News naturally filtered onto the pitch and the bench, leading to a sudden dramatic change in tactics - stop throwing the kitchen sink at the Bromsgrove goal and defend at all costs! A 1-1 draw now will do very nicely thank you.

The final whistle sparked stunned scenes of celebration. For so long over the past week it looked as though the play-offs were slipping out of our grasp. The 0-0 draw at Romulus, the 0-1 reverse at Sudbury, trailing Bromsgrove Rovers with 5 minutes remaining...but that is all behind us now. From now on it is cup football, win two games and we will be watching Premier Division football again next season, lose...well, then I guess we have to go through all of this again.