What Tranmere Rovers achieved in their 2017/18 National League Promotion Final against Boreham Wood at Wembley was truly special.
On paper it was ten men winning 2-1 against eleven. On grass it was a triumph over adversity. After the match Tranmere were credited in the media for overcoming the odds. It was bigger even than that.
It’s strange to say it about a game in which they were never behind but Tranmere came back from the dead. It was a privilege to be there witness it.
As far as following Tranmere goes I’m strictly a part-timer but it was an unforgettable experience. There was pandemonium in the stands. It was obvious that it meant the world to the real supporters.
Despite Boreham Wood’s impressive play-off wins against AFC Fylde and Sutton United they were underdogs from the second the final whistle blew at Gander Green Lane to confirm their semi-final win.
They had the smallest average gate in the fifth tier and Tranmere had the largest, a loose but stark measure of the historical chasm between the two finalists.
With Johnny King at the tiller Tranmere had three consecutive shots at the Premier League in the 1990s. Shortly before the third of those play-off defeats for Rovers, Boreham Wood were promoted to the Premier Division of the Isthmian League.
But with just 47 seconds played of the 2018 Promotion Final Tranmere’s status as favourites was reduced to rubble by the fastest red card in the history of Wembley Stadium.
Rovers left back Liam Ridehalgh’s loose first touch put his adrenaline in the driving seat and his challenge on Ricky Shakes destroyed manager Micky Mellon’s game plan before it began.
With the shadow of the previous year’s defeat on the same stage now looming large, the feeling among the Tranmere support was that the red card was probably deserved, possibly would have been a yellow in the eyes of a smarter referee, and was certainly a problem.
Five minutes later they were in front. James Norwood lofted in a cross for Andy Cook, whose header was as determined as it was unstoppable. There isn’t a doubt in my mind that Tranmere would have had to endure a very different afternoon had they not scored so soon after Ridehalgh’s dismissal.
In the aftermath of the goal, which was scored in front of Boreham Wood’s supporters, Josh Ginnelly was struck on the head by a bottle thrown from the crowd.
Despite Mellon’s tactful playing down of the incident after the match, Ginnelly’s condition might have played a part in the growing difficulties facing his team in the first half.
Having already sacrificed a devastated Larnell Cole to bring Eddie Clarke into his back four, Mellon withdrew Ginnelly after half an hour. He later reported that Ginnelly was carrying an injury but that the substitution was tactical.
A goal up, a man down, and two substitutions deep into their bench, Tranmere coped well. They needed two things: a half time lead and a substitution left up their sleeve. They got neither.
During six added minutes defender Ritchie Sutton pulled up with an injury. The universal sign language for a replacement was deployed without hesitation and Tranmere’s third change was made.
An equaliser arrived after seven and a half minutes. Boreham Wood got in behind Rovers and Bruno Andrade slotted home a neat finish. The half should have ended one attack earlier even accounting for Sutton’s injury.
I’ve seen thousands of goals in a lifetime of loving football. I’ve never known one deflate a crowd like Andrade’s equaliser.
Bodies sank to seats. Chests unpuffed. Heads fell into hands. In that one moment it became too big a task.
The situation Tranmere had found themselves in left them only momentum and something to defend. They lost both in the blink of an eye and defiant belief became forlorn hope for a miracle.
I’ll never know how they recovered to win the match. The second half was a monumental effort, a performance in which guts matched intelligence and good fortune finally joined the party.
As far as I was concerned at half time the best possible outcome was that Tranmere, somehow, would hold out for extra time and play some or all of it against ten men.
They made my pessimism look silly. The shift they put in to keep Boreham Wood to a single goal in 90 shorthanded minutes was phenomenal. On top of it they increased their threat after a more defensive first half and, incredibly, found a winning goal.
Boreham Wood’s play-off matches so far had uncovered a clear weakness - both Fylde and Sutton had benefited from a tendency to defend crosses badly.
Rovers’ 80th minute goal was yet another example. Cook powered in the first through sheer will to win but Norwood was left criminally free for the second. What power was possessed by his smart downward header was generated entirely by the scorer.
His header will be one of my most vivid football memories until the day my salt intake and chronic laziness finally catch up with me.
Boreham Wood goalkeeper Grant Smith got a glove to the ball but two crucial factors took it into the net. First, Smith’s weight was heading in the opposite direction. Second, Norwood placed the header too close to the goalkeeper’s feet. A save would have been one for the ages.
It seemed, at last, that it was Boreham Wood who’d had the stuffing knocked out of them. The atmosphere in the Tranmere end had been noisy all afternoon - with more than a little encouragement from their animated manager in the technical area - and it soared as the clock ran down.
The celebrations at full time will live long in the memory. From Mellon’s pitch invasion flanked by sliding bodies in front of the Rovers supporters to the cheers as the players, management and chairman Mark Palios got their hands on the trophy, the emotional impact of the game’s conclusion was infectious.
It was only afterwards that I learned of Ridehalgh’s tears on the sidelines as the game developed. I found it difficult to watch. He would never have forgiven himself if Tranmere hadn’t won the game.
Those who covered for him put in a wonderful performance. Eddie Clarke, his direct replacement, was superb. Connor Jennings was excellent from the moment he came on, arguably making the vital difference between defending for 90 minutes and retaining some kind of meaningful attacking intent.
Cook and Norwood worked themselves into the ground and found the scoring touches that won the match. Cole and Ginnelly, substituted for the cause, were given standing ovations in recognition of that fact.
And Mellon, who came under fire early in the season, somehow adapted his plan and lifted his team after the ultimate sucker-punch. This was the epitome of a team effort, unequalled by anything I’ve seen in person.
In the very first minute the Rovers support, players and manager spontaneously united. That’s what won it.
Boreham Wood might have felt they could have done more, that they choked under the pressure of suddenly being favourites, but this was Tranmere’s day.
After an unwelcome spell in the fifth tier they returned to the Football League thanks to a performance I’ll never forget. There surely aren’t too many supporters in England who’d disagree that’s where they belong.
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Chris Nee
@SphinxFtbl