“Proper heart-in-your-mouth stuff” was how the chair of Congleton Town FC described the final game of the season on Saturday, when Bears avoided relegation.
It was 90 minutes full of drama at the Cleric Stadium where a home win might not have been enough for Town to avoid the drop.
But they romped to a 4-0 final day victory against Trafford, despite being down to 10 men before half-time.
The majority of the 962 fans at Saturday’s match would have been equally anxiously awaiting the score in the game between Black Country outfit Sporting Khalsa, who were in Cheshire playing Witton Albion.
Victory for Sporting would have sent Bears down – but Witton went from being a goal down to win 2-1, which meant relegation for their opponents and relief and celebrations at the Cleric Stadium.
A brace in both halves by Bears striker Max McCarthy, along with goals from midfielder Dan Needham and striker Thomas Hampton, gave Town a convincing victory, despite Hampton being sent off in the first half after he was shown a second yellow card.
Asked what his thoughts were on hearing the final whistle, Town chair Charles Porter said: “It was a massive relief! We were well ahead by half-time but it was still out of our hands due to the score between Witton and Sporting Khalsa. I just kept refreshing my phone to see what was happening during the second half.”
Sporting scored first before Witton equalised with a penalty. To the delight of Town fans Witton then went ahead to win 2-1.
“We didn’t know until towards the end of our game and I was speaking to someone at the other match who was giving me real-time updates on my phone; it was proper heart-in-your-mouth stuff!” Mr Porter said.
Bears finished in 18th place, fifth from bottom and one point ahead of Sporting Khalsa, who were relegated along with three other teams.
Mr Porter said of the Town players: “They showed their resilience to get the much-needed win on the final day of the season. They went out there and did the job; they played really well and were by far the better team – even after going down to 10 men they continued to dominate the game.”
Mr Porter also praised the Bears faithful.
“I want to give a big thanks to the fans. They have a big impact on the players and their support all season has been fantastic – not forgetting the volunteers who work so hard week in week out so we can put matches on at the Cleric.”
As he spoke on Tuesday about Saturday’s match, when asked about plans for the close season ahead of the Bears’ next campaign, Mr Porter said: “Preparations start tonight at a management committee meeting and then we will start to look at pitch improvements in the next few weeks, as well as strengthening the playing squad so we are not in the same position come the end of next season.”
Mr Porter has previously spoken of the problems of recruiting players when other clubs have the resources to offer much higher wages.
A poster doing the rounds on social media after last Saturday’s match was the Bears’ version for the WW2 movie classic “The Great Escape”, with Town coach Richard Duffy replacing Steve McQueen as he jumps over a barbed wire fence on a motorbike.
Photo: Ell Trainor
