EVEN the finest scriptwriter would have struggled to come up with something as dramatic as Worthing United's victory last Sunday, their first since the tragic Shoreham air crash, which killed two of their players.
Sam Blundell pounced in the third minute of stoppage time to put the Mavericks through to the next round of the FA Vase – and provide a fitting tribute to Matt Grimstone and Jacob Schilt.
East Preston's Bruno Costa looked like robbing the 1,008 crowd – who were crammed into every corner of Lyons Way – as he equalised Jack Hayward's strike, but Blundell had the final say.
Emotions
It marked the end of an emotionally charged day but the start of a difficult week with Grimstone's funeral held on Monday and Schilt's two days later.
Mavericks boss Nigel Geary, who also worked alongside the pair at his Sunday side AFC Shoreham, heaped praise on his side for keeping their emotions in check – and said the day turned out to be even tougher than he anticipated.
“I managed to control myself over the past couple of weeks but it was a bit harder just before the game,” he said.
“I spoke to the two families just as the players were coming in from the warm up and it was probably the worst thing I could have done. I went in to talk to the players and started welling up. All I said was ‘make sure you go out and win'. They knew what they had to do.
“We hadn't played for three weeks and were playing in front of a crowd we've never seen before. There were more stewards and police there than we normally have fans!
“It wasn't an environment the players were used to so to play the way they did and to get the result is a huge credit to them.
“To concede in stoppage time and then go up the other end and score the winner was incredible.
“I reckon a couple of people must have been looking down on us.”
Things returned to relative normality on Friday night as Worthing travelled to Wick & Barnham United in the Southern Combination Premier, which they won 4-0.
The match was brought forward 24 hours so Geary and his squad could attend Brighton & Hove Albion's Championship game against Hull City – a match dedicated to Seagulls ground staff worker Grimstone and supporter Schilt.
*This article first appeared in The NLP on Sunday, September 13
