The Wembley dream came to an end in the cruellest fashion for Shildon on Saturday 30th March in front of a packed Dean Street. But the town did itself proud, turning out in force to give the team their fantastic support.
Shildon needed to overcome a two-goal deficit from the first leg, and it looked like the home crowd’s support was going to take the lads all the way to the final when they took the early lead they wanted through Jamie Owens in the 10th minute.
Chris McCabe doubled the lead before half time and Sam Garvie looked to have completed a sensational fightback when he put the Railwaymen ahead in the match and on aggregate when he scored the third in the 63rd minute.
With just 27 minutes remaining, the Railwaymen had one foot in the Wembley final, but Tunbridge had other ideas and with just 19 minutes remaining, pulled a goal back.
Shildon did everything they could to win the tie in the 90 minutes. Billy Greulich-Smith came on and with just four minutes to play, his bulleted header cannoned off the crossbar. Then, with the last kick of normal time, his shot brushed the wrong side of the post.
If either had been millimetres the other side of the woodwork, the lads would have been celebrating a famous win.
The match instead went to extra time and Shildon were denied a clear penalty in the first period when Greulich-Smith was crudely brought down from behind inside the box. Instead the referee waved play on to the bafflement of everyone in the ground.
Then, disaster struck for the home side when Tunbridge took the lead with a headed goal from a corner with just six minutes to play.
But Shildon went up the field and immediately scored from a rebound after the Tunbridge goalkeeper spilled a Robbie Briggs drive, only for the linesman to flag for offside. Film footage clearly showed that it was a poor decision with substitute and ‘scorer’, Mick Tait, at least half a yard onside when the initial shot was taken.
It was cruel on the players, whose courageous performance deserved better. They leave the competition in the knowledge that they were the better side by some margin in both legs of the semi-final, but in both games conceded to virtually the only chances the Kent side created.
Final Score: Shildon 3 – Tunbridge Wells 2 (Tunbridge Wells won 4-3 on aggregate).
The players, the management and the fans deserve tremendous praise for bringing a fantastic FA Vase adventure to the town.
After the Durham City game on Tuesday 2nd April, the Railwaymen have the impossible task of having to play 19 games before the end of the month, when the season officially ends.
The Northern League has scheduled 10 games to be played by Saturday 27th April, leaving 9 unscheduled games still to be played.
“The League will have to extend the season, but goodness knows how all these outstanding games can be accommodated,” said a spokesperson for the club.
Shildon & District's local community newspaper.
