Willand vs Brixham
Some Might Say that being a student on the mean streets of Crewe in the mid-nineties was a challenge. If it wasn’t 9am lectures, it was locals coming off the lines of the Rolls Royce factory and engaging in both verbal and physical altercations with the academic populus.
And if people didn’t want to talk about the longest covered railway station in the country (and you’d be surprised), it was a condescending conversation about how Crewe Alexandra were everyone’s favourite second team.
Of course, we had the weekends, but they tended to vanish into a haze of hard liquor and happy hours, and even these were tempered by the state of the establishments in which we found ourselves – It’s not easy to be happy when you’re not sure if the smell in your nostrils is nostalgia or just the lingering scent of despair from the more permanent residents.
And so, much like for any proper student in post Thatcher Britain, sacrifices had to be made, and in the case of the 1994 Crewe Cohort, this meant travelling Half a World Away and crossing the border towards Stoke for one of their infamous Student Nights.
It wasn’t long before Mondays and Thursdays became the nexus of our social calendar, but even before the bus departed at exactly just after 6pm each week, decisions had to be made.
Most students headed straight for Valentino’s, the most 1990’s named nightclub of the 1990’s. A chasm of a building spanning several floors and multiple genres, where you could start in the basement and dance to the dying embers of Madchester and finish your night raising your hands in the roof to the transient sounds of the dance music revolution.
For those with subscriptions to Melody Maker or the NME (but never both) with a panache for live music, there was always The Wheatsheaf, the potteries equivalent to The Cavern or King Tutt’s, and in the mid-nineties the venue hosted some of the up-and-coming Britpop bands that would soon make a generational tidal wave.
Being students though we were never far from the compromise between our ever-dwindling grants and maintaining the aura of being cool, and on one such week, the choice was simple; Monday night, a gig by Collapsed Lung, buoyed by the success of their anthemic tune ‘Eat My Goal’ or Thursday night, and The Inspiral Carpets former roadie and his whiny brother Liam, destined I was sure to become another Kula Shaker rather than a Shakermaker.
I’m not sure what I ended up doing on the Thursday night, but I like to think that I Definitely, Maybe stayed in and listened to the newly acquired debut album of the band that was playing some 15 miles away, who in the end, didn’t quite Fade Away as predicted.
This memory has of course been dislodged from my psyche by the news this week that for a mere £500+ per ticket I could again get the chance to see a band that I’d lost interest in a long time before most people had heard of them.
It might be a social media phenomenon, but people are talking about the Oasis comeback as though it’s the greatest comeback of all time, when we all know that it’s not even the greatest this week; that honour belongs to Willand, who after trailing 3-0 away to Falmouth, came back to tie the match in a game that will Live Forever in the memory of their fans.
A week removed and a different challenge for the team in the form of Western League Premier Division opposition Brixham, who, despite having a ‘games drawn’ record that would rival Willand’s own, beat Southern League opposition in the previous round.
Away day hero Fin Rooke replaced the suspended Owen Howe up front in a squad that welcomed back Adam Kelly Ethan Phillips.
Despite the auspicious occasion and a sizable crowd, the game started with a slightly flat atmosphere, perhaps tempered by the incoherent weather, which seemed confused as to which season it should represent. The first half played out under skies that seemed to Cast No Shadow, uncertain whether to clear up or cloud over.
Willand began on the front foot, quickly putting Brixham under pressure. In the 13th minute, Camilo played a clever ball to Guppy, marauding down the left flank. Guppy’s cross found Rooke, but the striker narrowly missed the crucial touch to open the scoring.
Willand continued to press, and their persistence paid off in the 23rd minute. Camilo and Rooke combined again to win a corner, with Rooke’s subsequent strike being met with shouts of ‘what a shot,’ echoing long after the ball had made its way back to the halfway line.
The remainder of the half was a cagey affair, with neither team able to break free from their defensive shackles.
Half Time – Willand 1 – Brixham 0
Willand began the second half on the front foot, eager to double their advantage, and came close in the 64th minute when a cross flashed across the face of the goal, somehow evading everyone before rolling out for a goal kick.
As the game wore on, Willand started to show signs of fatigue—possibly a hangover from their summer exodus to our Cornish counterparts—as Brixham began to push their way back into the game.
Whatever the reason, the visitors came close to an equaliser in the 78th minute, but their final touch let them down, and moments later, Burton pulled off a crucial save, diving to palm the ball away and keep his team in front.
Willand had the best chance to extend their lead when Rooke was brought down in the penalty area after a strong run. River Allen stepped up to take the penalty, but the Brixham keeper was equal to the task, making a fine save to his right and then blocking the follow-up shot.
In the end, Willand held on for a 1-0 win, with no late comeback from Brixham. It wasn’t a match filled with goals, but it was a hard-fought victory that demonstrated the team’s resilience and determination. Willand fans All Around the World might have hoped for a more comfortable afternoon, but they’ll be pleased to see their team in the hat for the next round.
After all, sometimes it’s not about being a Rock ‘n’ Roll Star; it’s about getting through the Champagne Supernova moments, staying Supersonic on the pitch, and making sure you don’t Look Back in Anger when the final whistle blows.
And for those of you still counting, that makes thirteen references.
I make no apologies.
Full Time – Willand 1 – Brixham 0
