Spennymoor Town (1) 2 Cogdon 18, Graydon 80
Tunbridge Wells (0) 1 Stanford 78
Att. 16,751
Entrance: £15
Programme: £4
Mileage: 100/5,908
Match Report
The dictionary definition of pride reads: A feeling of pleasure from one's own achievements, the achievements of those with whom one is associated. Despite Tunbridge Wells’ first ever visit to Wembley Stadium ending in defeat, the overriding feeling among the thousands of people that followed the club to the FA Vase Final was that of overwhelming pride. Proud to be associated with their town’s football club and, oh so proud of the spirit on show as the Wells stood toe-to-toe with, arguably the best Step Five club in the country.Even the most one-eyed of Tunbridge Wells supporters would be hard pressed to deny that Spennymoor Town were the better side on the day, but the Kent club never gave up, they stood tall and for the briefest of moments they were the equals of the team from the North-East.
When the semi-final had been won at Shildon, I cast doubts at estimates that Tunbridge Wells could sell their allocation of 10,000 tickets, but the people of the Royal Borough and throughout the county of Kent responded with more than 11,000 buying their tickets in advance of the day and eventually making up two-thirds of the 16,751 attendance.
Those fans that had done their homework prior to the game would have feared that their team could be on the end of a hiding. Spennymoor have been champions of the Northern League for the past three seasons and have only been denied a fourth title by virtue of a club of the standing of Darlington needing to reform at Step Five after going bust in the National Conference. How many times in the past would a club that has accumulated 100 points with five games remaining only finish runners-up, without the knowledge to say definitively, I would hazard a guess at never. Further consideration would have been taken that nobody outside of the Northern League has won the FA Vase since 2008.
And let’s face it, the bookies are rarely wrong and were offering odds of 1-6 on a Spennymoor victory.
The pride that was felt as my home town club, which I’ve followed for more than fifty years, walked out onto the Wembley turf could not be measured. Back in the early 1960s, there was a rivalry with the other local side, Tonbridge Football Club and supporting them both was a little odd as they competed in the same Southern League. But as time passed and the clubs were separated by a couple of Divisions there is no longer any reason not to wish both clubs well. The fact that several faces that frequent Longmead on a fortnightly basis were in evidence at Wembley was proof that very little animosity between the clubs exists today.
The sun shone brightly as Tunbridge Wells opened the game with a flourish. Andy McMath, who emigrates to Australia in a few weeks’ time, snapped a shot over the bar in the opening seconds of the game. Perhaps he saw symmetry with a certain Roly Graham, who scored the winner for Deal Town in 2000 before similarly departing down under.
After the Wells had cut out much of the early play, a mazy run and shot from Josh Stanford and another opportunity coming when Perry Spackman headed wide from a corner, Spennymoor opened the scoring after 17 minutes. A cross into the box wasn’t cleared properly and the resulting return into the area by Keith Graydon found Gavin Cogdon who had found space between the Wells central defenders to plant a firm header past Chris Oladogba. The subsequent celebration, in front of the massed ranks of the Tunbridge Wells fans was both provocative and unnecessary and really should have brought a booking rather than a mild reprimand from the referee.
Spennymoor now held the momentum and for the remainder of the half placed severe pressure on the Kent side. Oladogba was forced into a plunging dive at the feet of Cogdon and there was a collective holding of breath as Lewis Mingle and Mark Davison, rising together at the left hand post, saw the challenge resulting in the ball hitting the woodwork.
Under pressure, the Wells’ were forced to hit the ball long towards the ever-willing Andy Irvine, but the clearances continually returned as the North-Easterners completely dominated the midfield areas. Oladogba was called on once more before the break when he turned around the post a long range effort from Davison. Without doubt, Tunbridge Wells were pleased to get to the break with only a goal deficit.
The Kent club responded well to Martin Larkin’s half-time team talk and with the introduction of Jack Harris and Tom Davy just prior to the hour mark added a new pattern to the game. Davy added a bit more craft to the midfield that had struggled with the fluency of their counterparts, whilst Harris was prepared to run at defenders with the ball at his feet.
The Wells were still being asked to defend heroically and Mingle did especially well to block another Cogdon effort.
Twelve minutes remained when the moment came that will live long in the memory and the 12,000 Wells’ fans in the 90,000 capacity stadium generated a noise that some England games would benefit from when Josh Stanford coolly lobbed the ball into an unguarded net. The Spennymoor goalkeeper, Robert Dean, punched clear a Jason Bourne cross but only found Stanford who managed to keep his side-foot shot under control from an airborne position. Cue bedlam among the Wells faithful but sadly their hopes were quickly quashed as two minutes later the Moor regained their advantage.
And once again it was the pairing of Cogdon, who took on the role of pantomime villain following his first half misdemeanour and Graydon that was the undoing of the Wells magnificent rearguard action. Cogdon’s run across the face of the penalty area was finished with a shot at goal that was blocked but the rebound was met with a fierce half-volley from Graydon that rocketed past Oladogba to the delight of the fans that had made the 600-mile round trip from the north-east.
Five minutes of extra time were added in which there were claims for a penalty as a ball struck the hand of a Spennymoor defender, but the referee saw nothing to award a spot kick. Personally, I would put it in the “seen it given” category.
The final whistle blew on a well-earned, well-deserved Spennymoor victory but as the Tunbridge Wells players went to the end where their fans were congregated the acclaim they received was one of admiration, borne out of the spirit they had shown in the face of a team capable of playing at a much higher level than Step Five. Martin Larkin can be a very proud man, proud of the team he has created, proud of the spirit and resolve he has instilled. Their backs were against the wall at places like Larkhall and Shildon but they came through and for a fleeting moment it looked like it might just happen again.
Much has been made of Tunbridge Wells zero playing budget and, undoubtedly, should the club progress into the Ryman League this situation could not continue. But there is one thing that no amount of money can buy and this makes Tunbridge Wells a club of riches . . . Pride.
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