PLAY-OFF STORIES

Defender Billy Priestley in action against Bamber Bridge back in 2014 (pic Stefan Willoughby).

The Rams entertain Padiham tomorrow as the end of season play-offs get underway and the supporters are licking their lips in anticipation of what might be… or not be!

It will be the third time we have participated in the nerve jangling shoot-out and, if previous occasions are anything to go by, heart rate medicine will need to be on standby.

Let’s go straight back to 30 April 2014. Messrs Johnson and Morley had worked their magic once again, having narrowly missed out on a place in the play-offs twelve months previously when Skelmersdale scored in the 92nd minute to sink our play-off dreams, a typically brilliant run of results – losing just three of their last 22 games including a 5-2 hammering of Salford City and an 8-0 humping of Radcliffe, it saw the Rams finish fifth and as the clear outsiders.

Our opponents in the semi-final were Darlington 1883, the reformed former Football League side. Despite beating them both home and away in the regular league season – Jon Robinson’s hat-trick seeing the Rams home 3-0 in the home game and Phil Dean’s strike on the half hour was enough for the 1-0 win at Heritage Park in November – it was fancied that the home side, with a partisan crowd, would be enough for the ‘tiny town team’.

To say that that night was memorable is the wildest of understatements!

The atmosphere, already heightened with it being a play-off game, turned feral as early as the second minute when Owen Roberts’ challenge on Leon Scott sent the crowd into blood baying overdrive. The referee, Mr Mulraine, showed Roberts a yellow card when the Darlington faithful vented for a red.

For the remaining 88 minutes, the Rams kept their composure and let their football do the talking while their hosts imploded. Gary Stopforth’s astute pass sent Jordan Hulme into the right hand side of the area. His testing cross was headed behind for a corner, from which Billy Priestley rose highest to despatch a firm header into the back of the net on 23 minutes to give the Rams the lead.

As the temperature continued to ramp up, the Rams added a second goal just nine minutes later. A neat flick from Phil Dean sent Hulme scampering down the left wing. He cut inside the box and beat two defenders before planting the ball in by the far post.

The Rammy following went wild and, as the half-time whistle went, all hell broke lose as Darlington’s manager Martin Gray was dismissed, striker Stephen Thompson was sent off for two yellow cards on 48 minutes and Jordan Robinson followed suit as time ran out.

As Tony Cunningham’s report said, “had the Rams returned home with a four or five goal advantage, no-one could have complained, but as it was, the two goal cushion was more than enough to make them worthy winners on the night, and set up a final showdown at Bamber Bridge on Saturday.

“The night ended with the referee needing police protection from the baying Darlington fans, a number of whom entered the pitch at the final whistle, whilst the Rams players joined the small band of Rammy supporters in the corner of the ground to celebrate a famous victory for the club.”

And so to the Final at the newly named Sir Tom Finney Stadium, the home of Bamber Bridge, where the Rams had played out a dull 0-0 draw in the final regular league game of the season.

It would become an afternoon of pure legend – but not for co-manager Bernard Morley, who missed the game due to a pre-arranged family holiday!

Lee Gaskell gave the Rams an early lead on just six minutes after Grant Spencer on the right wing put in the perfect cross which Gaskell met with his head to plant the ball firmly into the back of the net.

The home side equalised on 22 minutes through Greg Johnstone but the Rams came out for the second half and were looking the more likely of the two sides to take the contest.

With just three minutes of normal time left, it looks as though the Rams had booked their place in the Premier Division when Owen Roberts’ corner fell invitingly for Steve Howson on the edge of the box and he drove it through a ruck of players and in by the post.

However, the game wasn’t done. A flare thrown on the pitch by some home supporters stopped the game and it proved fatal for the Rams. In the fifth minute of the three added on, the ball was played into the penalty area and was adjudged to have been handled by Billy Priestley. Paul Alexander made no mistake from the penalty spot and that was the final kick of the 90 minutes.

Extra time and the nerves were going twenty to the dozen. And it was the Rams who held their nerve – if only just! Just before the half-time break, the ball was played up field, Robinson thread it through on the right where the on-rushing Dominic Smalley chased it and just beat Dovey in the Bridge goal, who had rushed out of his net. Smalley dinked it past the stopper and into the gaping net to give the Rams the advantage again.

Brig threw everything at the Rams in the final 15 minutes with Martin Fearon in the Rammy goal the savour, espeically when Alex Taylor glanced a header from a left wing corner towards the far top corner but Fearon, at full stretch, finger-tipped it over to deny the hosts.

Promotion had been secured with a performance that deserved the plaudits. Having started the season with four defeats and a three-point deduction for fielding in ineligible player – it was remarkable on so many levels and that afternoon, in the Lancashire sunshine will never be forgotten.

What has been forgotten though was the Rams’ second hit at play-off glory, which ended before it began with a 3-0 reverse to Radcliffe in April 2019 at Stainton Park. It just wasn’t to be for Chris Willcock’s side as Metcalfe scored in the first half and Owolabi and Wharton added further goals in the second.

Tomorrow, the Rams will write another chapter in their play-off history… will be 2014 memorable or 2019 forgetful?