90 MINUTES FROM WEMBLEY

Saturday, March 19, marked a very important date in the lives of every Halifax Town supporter, including me. It was the date we could secure a place at Wembley for the first time in our history. For a relatively small team in the conference, an appearance at the home of football would be huge. I woke up on Saturday morning as giddy as a kid at Christmas. The first leg of the fixture, away at Nantwich, saw goals from Scott McManus and Waide Fairhurst in the first half and a brace from Town’s top scorer Jordan Burrow in the second, ensure the Shaymen took a 4-2 lead going into the second leg. It was an attractive advantage so a ticket to Wembley seemed never in doubt, right?

I woke up excited, nervous, giddy, tense, all at the same time. I thought, maybe, just maybe, today would end the big game heartbreak I had experienced before (see previous post!) and we could finally celebrate a dream my dad and I had had since the start of our Shaymen supporting days. My younger sister and I got ready, donned our Town shirts and Grandpa picked us up at around half 1 so we could get there early enough to soak up the atmosphere and get a good seat. Dad met us at the game, late as usual, well he and my uncle managed to get to us five minutes before kick off which, I guess, is early in their eyes. We all shuffled about, got comfy in our seats, took a few pictures for the memory bank and then it was time for kick off.

Halifax started the game brightly as Nantwich looked increasingly nervous. Four minutes in and Josh MacDonald skipped rapidly past the Nantwich defence down the left side and delivered a pinpoint cross, which found an on rushing Jordan Burrow who slotted the ball in the back of the net. We pounced off our seats and the whole ground roared in jubilation. What a start! 1-0 up on the day, 5-2 up on aggregate, playing positively and our place at Wembley looked ever more promising. It was a dream start to the game, but the joy was short lived. Shortly after, Nantwich leveled the scoring through Liam Shotton. The away side had settled into the game and looked the more likely to score next, creating all the chances and dominating Halifax in midfield. And score next they did, as centre half Matt Bailey headed home to put Nantwich just one goal from leveling the aggregate score. A nervous few minutes ensued before the half time whistle blew as Sam Johnson was put to the test in goal on numerous occasions. We have him to thank for keeping the score as it was for so long! The pressure piled on while Halifax had to withstand it, hitting Nantwich on the counter through Sam Walker who was bundled over in the box. Penalty! Get in! I think I almost fell over in celebration. We were going to restore our two-goal lead going into half time! Burrow stepped up to take the penalty and, would you believe it, missed. Nantwich’s goalie dived to his left and saved it. You’d have bet your house on Burrow scoring from the spot! The penalty miss summed up our first half: disappointing. We deserved to be 2-1 down and if we didn’t book our ideas up we’d find ourselves behind on aggregate before long! The ref blew the half time whistle and with it, a welcome rest for players and fans. We weren’t half doing it the hard way!
      

I didn’t know how much more of this I could take. Halifax were playing like they didn’t care about the win, about Wembley. Their performance needed to change drastically. The teams came out of the tunnel for the second half and we were underway. Nothing had changed and we were playing as poorly as we had the majority of the first half. Johnson kept pulling off save after save and I don’t know if it was just me, but I didn’t think we even deserved the trip to Wembley! I mean, we defended admirably in stopping Nantwich scoring again but that was about as good as it got. However, in the last ten minutes, Halifax managed a couple of chances through substitute Shaquille McDonald who pinged his shot far into the fans behind the goal, and Burrow again found his shot stopped by the Nantwich keeper. Town started pushing forward and with just minutes remaining, a superb cross from the right was swept into the box and the ball seemed to trickle slowly over the line. Did Burrow get the final touch? Or was it an own goal by Nantwich’s centre half? It was at the other end of the pitch to where we were sat so I couldn't see who had touched it in! The Yorkshire Post and Halifax Courier report an own goal, but Town’s website and the FA Website suggest Burrow took the spoils. I guess it doesn’t matter now; the ball went into the net! The whole stadium erupted. I cried with happiness and jumped up in elation to hug my dad and grandpa. We had done it, albeit in an uncomfortable fashion, but we were going to Wembley! WEMBLEY. Halifax Town were going to Wembley! What. A. Day.

The whole game seems like a blur to me now, it was a struggle to write this post! The clearest memory was that of the ball trickling over the line with two minutes to go and everybody in the stadium exploding with happiness, excitement and an inkling of relief! It was a miracle. I’ll see you on May 22^nd, Wembley!