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Post by agl on Jun 30, 2020 20:32:07 GMT
Any memories of last time in the play offs? I'll get the ball rolling....went to Doncaster with my then girlfriend (now wife in spite of it all) and got there so early we went ten pin bowling on the industrial estate near the ground then a pre match meal at Frankie and Benny's (like to think I'm a bit more sophisticated now). Don't remember too much about the game apart from Kevin Mac's goal and a late equaliser. Nothing between the teams as it proved in the second leg. Possibly the best atmosphere ever at the Deva. Right behind the goal when Cameron missed the decisive pen. I was distraught, especially as their keeper made an incredible save in extra time from a Cameron header. Wonder where Big Dave us now? Not the greatest player but gave his all
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Post by Oaks Blue on Jun 30, 2020 20:46:12 GMT
The ping noises of the coins hitting the metal railings behind us, that were thrown at us by their fans. They had a cracking player called Whitman who scored against us a belle view as far as I recall
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Post by Anders on Jun 30, 2020 20:58:28 GMT
Remember us all giving Blundell loads of stick as he was on the bench for them warming up in front of us that night. Was a bit of a hate figure at the time after he always baited us when at Northwich. The Andy Cook of the time.
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Post by Frank Owen’s Paintbrush on Jun 30, 2020 21:16:27 GMT
First leg was the day of my 17th birthday - ruined by Tristram Whitman bagging an injury time equaliser in front of the home end but running the length of the pitch to celebrate in front of us behind the other goal. Also Mark Quayle given a straight red card for a superb clean tackle. Joke.
Second leg a few days later we’ll say no more, our front two both missing their penalties. You’d have put your mortgage on Daryl Clare scoring his. I remember putting an arm round Phil Bolland after the shootout.
Thank god we made sure of promotion the following season.
Anyone remember the Swansea games in ‘97? Stale 0-0 at home and then hammered in the second leg after Priest was sent off.
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Post by Lobster on Jun 30, 2020 21:18:54 GMT
The away leg was a bit tetchy all round. For a start, they absolutely hated Kevin McIntyre, way beyond anything you'd expect of an ex-player. He scored to put us in front and did a shushing gesture, which only made it worse.
We had Mark Quayle sent off in a ridiculous decision, and some helmet of a steward celebrated right in front of us. Celebrating a red card, not even a goal!
Whitman equalised with more or less the last kick and ran the length of the pitch to celebrate in front of us, and their fans started throwing coins and plastic bottles at us. Which seemed weird, aren't you meant to be happy when you score? As a club, Donny Rovers just seemed to be a very troubled set of individuals at the time.
I remember much less about the home leg, except that Donny had a good shout for a penalty turned down, and before the ill-fated shootout, Cameron almost won it for us in the last minute but for a great save from Andy Warrington.
In both games there was basically nothing between the two sides.
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Post by Frank Owen’s Paintbrush on Jun 30, 2020 21:22:09 GMT
Ah I’d forgotten the Cameron chance. Andy Warrington pulled off probably the best save I’ve ever seen live and he pretty much won them the tie.
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Post by agl on Jun 30, 2020 21:25:57 GMT
Ah I’d forgotten the Cameron chance. Andy Warrington pulled off probably the best save I’ve ever seen live and he pretty much won them the tie. Big Dave now appears to be a coach at Droylsden. Looking at his career stats he was never prolific |
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Post by Moltisanti on Jun 30, 2020 21:45:14 GMT
First leg was the day of my 17th birthday - ruined by Tristram Whitman bagging an injury time equaliser in front of the home end but running the length of the pitch to celebrate in front of us behind the other goal. Also Mark Quayle given a straight red card for a superb clean tackle. Joke. Second leg a few days later we’ll say no more, our front two both missing their penalties. You’d have put your mortgage on Daryl Clare scoring his. I remember putting an arm round Phil Bolland after the shootout. Thank god we made sure of promotion the following season. Anyone remember the Swansea games in ‘97? Stale 0-0 at home and then hammered in the second leg after Priest was sent off. Remember Swansea. Not the nicest of places to go as a 10 year old. |
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Post by Moltisanti on Jun 30, 2020 21:45:57 GMT
Was gutted for weeks after the penalty loss. Some atmosphere that day though.
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Post by Lobster on Jun 30, 2020 21:58:16 GMT
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Post by Oaks Blue on Jun 30, 2020 22:00:53 GMT
First leg was the day of my 17th birthday - ruined by Tristram Whitman bagging an injury time equaliser in front of the home end but running the length of the pitch to celebrate in front of us behind the other goal. Also Mark Quayle given a straight red card for a superb clean tackle. Joke. Second leg a few days later we’ll say no more, our front two both missing their penalties. You’d have put your mortgage on Daryl Clare scoring his. I remember putting an arm round Phil Bolland after the shootout. Thank god we made sure of promotion the following season. Anyone remember the Swansea games in ‘97? Stale 0-0 at home and then hammered in the second leg after Priest was sent off. Remember both games, one of their fans ran onto the deva pitch before the game and laid a Welsh flag in the centre circle, only to be allowed back into the south stand by the stewards and police! The away leg at vetch field was a nightmare, Priest going in too hard in the first couple of minutes and it literally was game over... |
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Post by exiled on Jun 30, 2020 22:11:12 GMT
First leg was the day of my 17th birthday - ruined by Tristram Whitman bagging an injury time equaliser in front of the home end but running the length of the pitch to celebrate in front of us behind the other goal. Also Mark Quayle given a straight red card for a superb clean tackle. Joke. Second leg a few days later we’ll say no more, our front two both missing their penalties. You’d have put your mortgage on Daryl Clare scoring his. I remember putting an arm round Phil Bolland after the shootout. Thank god we made sure of promotion the following season. Anyone remember the Swansea games in ‘97? Stale 0-0 at home and then hammered in the second leg after Priest was sent off. I remember Quayles red card, wasn't it overturned but came too late for him to play in the second leg? Also Mark Wright getting into some handbags with one of their players, after the ball went out of play near the dugout,and Wright knocked it away to waste a bit of time. |
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Post by Frank Owen’s Paintbrush on Jun 30, 2020 22:20:08 GMT
First leg was the day of my 17th birthday - ruined by Tristram Whitman bagging an injury time equaliser in front of the home end but running the length of the pitch to celebrate in front of us behind the other goal. Also Mark Quayle given a straight red card for a superb clean tackle. Joke. Second leg a few days later we’ll say no more, our front two both missing their penalties. You’d have put your mortgage on Daryl Clare scoring his. I remember putting an arm round Phil Bolland after the shootout. Thank god we made sure of promotion the following season. Anyone remember the Swansea games in ‘97? Stale 0-0 at home and then hammered in the second leg after Priest was sent off. Remember Swansea. Not the nicest of places to go as a 10 year old. Horrific ground, especially the away “pen” (you’d have to describe it as) and right next door to a prison. The Liberty Stadium is worlds apart from that place. |
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Post by Frank Owen’s Paintbrush on Jun 30, 2020 22:23:44 GMT
Remember both games, one of their fans ran onto the deva pitch before the game and laid a Welsh flag in the centre circle, only to be allowed back into the south stand by the stewards and police! Soon became a familiar sight... |
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Post by spencerwhelanleftpeg on Jul 1, 2020 0:22:38 GMT
First leg was the day of my 17th birthday - ruined by Tristram Whitman bagging an injury time equaliser in front of the home end but running the length of the pitch to celebrate in front of us behind the other goal. Also Mark Quayle given a straight red card for a superb clean tackle. Joke. Second leg a few days later we’ll say no more, our front two both missing their penalties. You’d have put your mortgage on Daryl Clare scoring his. I remember putting an arm round Phil Bolland after the shootout. Thank god we made sure of promotion the following season. Anyone remember the Swansea games in ‘97? Stale 0-0 at home and then hammered in the second leg after Priest was sent off. Frank I remember the game at the vetchfield . We were given a police escort and large police presence to protect us from the Jack army. I can still see the ambulance on or very close to the pitch now. We were absolutely bettered after the red card . We didn’t take a huge following g as I remember. My mate at the time brought this enormous bottle of champagne 🍾 with him. I recall it being returned to the fridge at his home in Wem after the game. Remember being really disappointed at the time. I think the home 0-0 draw was on sky I think? Despite that loss we were a decent side then |
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Post by cameandabel on Jul 1, 2020 6:55:50 GMT
The chance to at last get to Wembley was the big thing in ‘97, arguably more so than whether we went up or not. Really felt confident we’d get there after the 5-1 win at Exeter to clinch a play-off spot, but it all started to go wrong with the home defeat to Orient on the last day of the season. That cost us home advantage in the second leg of the play-offs. I suspect the games against Swansea would have panned out a bit differently had we been away first and played at the Vetch on a Sunday afternoon, rather than in midweek.
Even so, Flitcroft had a goal disallowed in the first leg and Milner missed a decent chance to score. But I knew deep down the chance had passed after that ended 0-0 and so it proved, Priest’s red card effectively killing our hopes in the second leg.
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Post by Lobster on Jul 1, 2020 7:01:30 GMT
Can anyone remember if the away goals rule counted in the playoffs in those days? If so, a 0-0 at home wasn't too bad really.
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Post by Frank Owen’s Paintbrush on Jul 1, 2020 7:09:57 GMT
Think away goals have only ever (and still only) counted in European competition.
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Post by South Wirral Blue on Jul 1, 2020 7:11:15 GMT
I think what made losing to Donny even harder was the fact that many, including myself, strongly felt that the winner of our game would be the ones that would win the final.
Horrible at the time but looking back, that 03/04 title winning season was very special.
One thing I always remember about 02/03 is how rock solid we were defensively, particularly on the road. By October/November time we'd only conceded about 4 away goals, incredible really!
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Post by Frank Owen’s Paintbrush on Jul 1, 2020 7:21:23 GMT
Mark Wright should be a Hall of Famer really for his footballing achievements for us. He came back twice to try to help us stave off relegation too - successful the first time but sadly not the second time under increasing off-field turmoil.
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Post by Moltisanti on Jul 1, 2020 7:58:22 GMT
Mark Wright should be a Hall of Famer really for his footballing achievements for us. He came back twice to try to help us stave off relegation too - successful the first time but sadly not the second time under increasing off-field turmoil. 😂 🎣 |
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Post by cfc1885 on Jul 1, 2020 7:58:49 GMT
My old PE teacher at school Jason Blunt scored for Doncaster in the shootout all he ever banged on about the rat
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Post by Lobster on Jul 1, 2020 8:50:52 GMT
Think away goals have only ever (and still only) counted in European competition. I'm sure they used to count in the League Cup, which was two legs for every round at the time. |
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Post by cameandabel on Jul 1, 2020 8:56:41 GMT
Think away goals have only ever (and still only) counted in European competition. I'm sure they used to count in the League Cup, which was two legs for every round at the time. They did used to count, but only after extra-time (unlike in European competitions which was after 90 minutes). |
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Post by oldsealandroadender on Jul 1, 2020 12:55:34 GMT
The play off second leg in 1997 at Swansea fell on my girlfriend's Birthday. I said I wouldn't go after we had words about it but she insisted I went. (Wished I hadn't after the game!)
She came with me to Wrexham on Valentine's day (St. Milner's day) was at The Deva with me when relegated from the league and also at Hereford when we went back up.
Not many actual games but accepted my love for the club and still married me in 2005. Just as well we didn't qualify for play offs that year as it would have clashed with the wedding!
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Post by Lobster on Jul 1, 2020 14:42:22 GMT
I think what made losing to Donny even harder was the fact that many, including myself, strongly felt that the winner of our game would be the ones that would win the final. Horrible at the time but looking back, that 03/04 title winning season was very special. One thing I always remember about 02/03 is how rock solid we were defensively, particularly on the road. By October/November time we'd only conceded about 4 away goals, incredible really! In an alternative history, it might've been interesting to see what would've happened if we had gone up that season. Doncaster went straight up again the following season.
Strangely, the recruitment prior to the title-winning 2003/04 was actually quite poor. Alex Smith and Jamie Heard were good addition and so was Darryn Stamp of course (although he was signed a few games in when Wright realised we were lightweight up top), but the likes of Andy Harris, Ian Foster and most notoriously Kevin Rapley added little to the squad. It was more the continuity from the season before that won it for us, as well as the amazing development of Danny Collins, and these probably would have served us well in the league above.
It seemed to me the main reason the 2004/05 season was a flop was because of SVJ being signed and Wright leaving because he wasn't happy about it. If we'd got in the FL a season earlier, we might well have picked up where we left off. I'm sure with Vaughan it would still have ended in tears, but there might at least have been a little more joy in between!
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Post by tonya on Jul 2, 2020 18:45:40 GMT
First leg was the day of my 17th birthday - ruined by Tristram Whitman bagging an injury time equaliser in front of the home end but running the length of the pitch to celebrate in front of us behind the other goal. Also Mark Quayle given a straight red card for a superb clean tackle. Joke. Second leg a few days later we’ll say no more, our front two both missing their penalties. You’d have put your mortgage on Daryl Clare scoring his. I remember putting an arm round Phil Bolland after the shootout. Thank god we made sure of promotion the following season. Anyone remember the Swansea games in ‘97? Stale 0-0 at home and then hammered in the second leg after Priest was sent off. I remember both like yesterday. Filmed all the Doncaster game at the Deva. Haven't watched it, even now. Swansea game also. I said to my son before the game, i hope Preist isn't sent off. Memorable afternoon on sun drenched Gower beach, we inscribed Chester FC in large letters. As we legged it after the game an elderly lady stuck her head out of her front door asking if they had won. I told her they had lost. |
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Post by rhodri on Jul 15, 2020 19:59:55 GMT
The away leg was a bit tetchy all round. For a start, they absolutely hated Kevin McIntyre, way beyond anything you'd expect of an ex-player. He scored to put us in front and did a shushing gesture, which only made it worse. We had Mark Quayle sent off in a ridiculous decision, and some helmet of a steward celebrated right in front of us. Celebrating a red card, not even a goal! Whitman equalised with more or less the last kick and ran the length of the pitch to celebrate in front of us, and their fans started throwing coins and plastic bottles at us. Which seemed weird, aren't you meant to be happy when you score? As a club, Donny Rovers just seemed to be a very troubled set of individuals at the time. I remember much less about the home leg, except that Donny had a good shout for a penalty turned down, and before the ill-fated shootout, Cameron almost won it for us in the last minute but for a great save from Andy Warrington. In both games there was basically nothing between the two sides. I found Quayle a strange signing. I get the strength in depth concept. However I haven't got the stats to prove it, but it definitely seemed to throw Clare off for a few games. Maybe it prompted him to be even better the next season, being formidable alongside Stamp |
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