by Robert Mann
An hour or so latter as the two coaches headed past the Gordano Services on the M5, two unmarked police cars trailed them. Following the coaches at a discreet distance also was the biker. An Avon and Somerset traffic patrol car, spotting the two almost antique coaches and unaware of the large combined undercover police operation taking place, operating it’s siren and flashing blue lights indicated for the two coaches to pull to a stop on the hard shoulder. The biker accelerated past the coaches and pulled off at the next junction a few hundred yards away. On a nearby bridge he watched and awaited developments.
Thirty minutes away up the motorway five minibuses full of The Country Firm had pulled into the northbound services at Michael Wood. In one of the minibuses was James who was keeping in touch with Oliver who had his girlfriend and Rick with him. They were stationary in the Porsche overlooking the motorway no more than ten minutes away. Tension was building within The Country Firm who were all psyched up for the clash to come. Tension was also building in the two police surveillance teams scattered around the service area who had clocked the arrival of the minibuses having been tipped off from Miles after his last meeting with Rick. In the car park at the front of the services were five unmarked minibuses crammed full of riot police. In the front of one them was Inspector Morrison who was coordinating the operation.
Back down the motorway the two traffic patrol officers blissfully unaware of the consequences of their actions had booked both drivers of the two rickety old coaches for driving vehicles on the motorway in a dangerous state. When a back up vehicle arrived the two coaches were escorted off the motorway and impounded not allowed to continue their journey! The Yeovil hooligans could not believe it with the coaches being swiftly wrecked inside as they vented their frustration. A message was radioed up the motorway to Inspector Morrison from one of the undercover cars that the operation had been blown by traffic cops. He sat there head in his hands cursing the lack of communication between the different police departments! At the same time Oliver’s mobile went-it was the biker
“Posh boy it’s off traffic police have stopped us”
Oliver roared with laughter as he terminated the call. Call it an intuition or just blind luck ?Oliver suddenly knew the police were staking out Michael Wood services. He made a frantic phone call to James who was still in the lorry park at the back of the services wondering what was going on, about thirty seconds before Inspector Morrison gave the order to move against The Country Firm.
“Get out of there the filth are on to us”
Was Oliver’s short but succinct warning!
James had his minibus moving and shouting a warning to the others stepped hard on the accelerator as he headed for the motorway. Bodies bounced from side to the side in the packed bus, tyres smoking and the clutch screaming its protest, he made it –just! Police minibuses appeared from nowhere behind them blocking the exit to the motorway as two of the other Country Firm minibuses ran into each other in their haste to escape! Members of The Country Firm piled out of the back doors of the four remaining buses running in all directions trying to escape. The net result for Inspector Morrison was seventy members of The Country Firm arrested for conspiracy to commit affray and organized football violence. He doubted that many of the charges would stick though and the leaders had escaped again!
As the tail end of the police operation was finished off and the last of the prisoners were dispatched to police stations in and around the Cheltenham area a convoy of twelve official Yeovil Town supporters coaches passed Michael Wood services heading for Whaddon Road. Back in Bristol the Yeovil hooligans had been arrested for criminal damage to the coaches. Some would say they had been doing the two derelict coaches a favour by eventually condemning them to the scrap yard!
Miles received a phone call from Inspector Morrison just before kick off. He was relatively pleased with the results albeit bitterly disappointed that the ringleaders again had got away with it. They certainly led a charmed life he mused. Down in the dressing rooms Terrance Fletcher and Russell Slade were giving their final team talks. Outside the ground was absolutely crammed to the rafters each set of supporters contributing towards a terrific atmosphere as the teams gathered in the tunnel. As the teams broke onto the pitch both sets of fans gave their respective teams a tickertape welcome, as Whaddon Road became a sea of red, black, green and white confetti.
Yeovil won the toss and elected to defend the Carlsberg end where their fans were gathered in the first half. Straight from the kick off they began to show their class roared on by their fanatical fans. It was no surprise when on the ten-minute mark that they took the lead. It was a goal of superb quality, a four-man move that left Lee Morris free on the far post to power a diving header past the despairing hands of Francis in the Redbourne goal. Redbourne were really struggling to get a grip on the game with Jock Mcleish and Terry Pauls working over time in midfield just to break up further Yeovil attacks and allow their team some time to settle down. Still Yeovil pressed despite the efforts of the home support to raise their team. Just before half time it was two nil to The Glovers. Paul Terry picked the ball up in his own half and powered forward. He beat the challenge of Jock Mcleish brushing him aside with a neat dummy and unleashed a pile driver of a shot from about thirty yards. It flew into the top corner of the net swerving viciously as it went. Francis in the Redbourne goal had no chance and didn't even move admiring the quality of the strike! Redbourne looked like a beaten team, their fans having fallen silent stunned to find themselves trailing by two goals! All that could be heard inside Whaddon Road was the sound of the Yeovil fans celebrating. Indeed just before half time Redbourne were very lucky not to go further behind. A rasping shot from Skiverton pushing forward into attack came back off the Redbourne bar with Francis again well beaten. Terrance and Steve were doing their collective best from the technical area to improve things for Redbourne but nothing they tried to get across to the team seemed to have any effect!
It was a very sombre three sides of Whaddon Road that listened as Stew Redbourne started the halftime entertainment. Coming up was the eagerly awaited results of the vote for the name of the new stadium. As the record finished Stew strode into the middle of the pitch with the final results.
"Ladies and gentlemen I have the name here of our new stadium which you have been voting on for the last four weeks or so. Thank you for such an amazing response, which has seen over ten thousand votes cast and over £9000 raised for local charities. It was a very tight race in the end with two of the six final names running right away with the votes. In second place with three thousand five hundred votes is The Country Fortress but the overwhelming winner with five thousand eight hundred votes was Pines Road."
A generous round of applause greeted the winner and the lucky owner of the free season ticket for the 2007-2008 season. Down beneath the stands in the home dressing room Terry and Jock were going mad trying to get some self-belief back into their players. It was a very quiet dressing room and several players had their heads down including the mercurial Terry Pauls who was unusually subdued for he hardly got a kick in the first half. One substitution was made at half time with Wayne Ferraday being subbed from the left side of midfield as Terrance switched to three up front. On came Redbourne's reserve team striker Ian Hargreaves who had scored seven goals for the reserves so far in the season. Redbourne's intentions were clear from the start of the second half - they were going to throw caution to the winds in a vain attempt to get something out of the game.
Disaster struck though after just minutes of the second half. A poorly directed clearance from a Yeovil corner hit Jock Mcleish on the ankle at pace and rebounded back into the Redbourne net making it three nil to Yeovil. On the bench Terrance held his head in his hands he could not believe how badly things were going! It sounded like a home game for Yeovil by now with the only noise coming from within the stadium being generated by the delirious Yeovil fans. With twenty minutes to go and no change to the score line Terrance made his last thr
ow of the dice pushing Terry Pauls up front along with the three regular attackers. Suddenly the change was instantaneous with gaps starting to appear in the Yeovil defence as the three man Redbourne midfield at last found space to play. With ten minutes to play and Redbourne running out of ideas the goal came. It needed a bit of luck as a mis-hit shot from Dwight Edwards landed at the feet of Terry Pauls with just the keeper to beat from the six yards out. He needed no second invitation making it three one. He didn't even celebrate the goal sprinting back to the centre circle with the ball after a brief wrestling match with the Yeovil keeper who didn't want to relinquish it! Redbourne scored again straight from the kick off a long ball. A long hopeful ball from Jock Mcleish saw the Yeovil defence go missing for the first time in the whole match. Dwight Edwards found himself unmarked and onside ten yards out. The Yeovil keeper had no chance with a low shot that went under his body. The home fans erupted suddenly finding their voices in the belief that Redbourne could get something out of the game. A home roar developed for the first time in the game with just minutes left for The Countrymen to get an unexpected equaliser.
"Come On Redbourne, Come On Redbourne”
was the chant that came up from the stands the Yeovil fans now suddenly quiet and nervous, what had seemed an easy win and now they were clinging on! The Yeovil management were bellowing instructions at their players that seemed to get lost in the din inside of the stadium!
With the board having gone up showing three minutes of time added on to be played Redbourne won a corner. Surely it would be their last chance to gain a share of the spoils? Even the Redbourne keeper Francis came forward. The corner was floated in looking for Dwight Edwards at the far post. The delivery was superb and his knock down was met by the on rushing Francis who scored his first ever goal for Redbourne hammering the equaliser into the roof of the net from close range! Celebrating team-mates engulfed him along with a number of fans that invaded the pitch as the final whistle went. Even Miles Grimley up in the director's box was carried away by the moment leaning out of the window and punching the air with delight. The 5 live commentator doing his match summary for Sports Report ten minutes latter described the game as the most exciting he had covered including the premiership so far this season and was gushing in praise for both sets of fans and both teams saying that both would and should grace a higher division! In the dressing room around the same time Terrance was more succinct in his after match summation
"Two points dropped lads"
13
The Darker Side Of Deborah
Sitting on "The Beast" on the way down to The Memorial Ground for Redbourne's second visit of the season Deborah reflected on how strange her life had become lately. She thought about this violent, brooding but very good looking man that had come into her life recently. She had met Oliver in The Prom Club in Cheltenham on a night out to celebrate her younger sister's birthday who was doing work experience at the racecourse. Their eyes had locked across the dance floor and it had sent a shiver of excitement, a bolt of electricity that had travelled throughout her whole body before they had even spoken. She had wanted him like no other man that had ever come into her life before; the whole aura around him consumed her and swept her away. His eyes although hard at first look, held immense depth and passion for her and he made her feel so good about herself, so vibrant and alive.
For the first time in her life Deborah was hopelessly in love. Oliver soon found out that she worked at Redbourne Rovers and making out that he was just a fan was soon gently probing her for any gossip or information about goings on within the club. They had been seeing each other for just over a month when Oliver decided to gamble a little. For him it was just pure lust where Deborah was concerned, plus she certainly looked good in his Porsche. He just wanted to see how far he could corrupt her. Lying in bed together on the Friday night their passion for each other temporarily sated Oliver looked over at this gorgeous blonde creature lying next to him and smiled his lop sided smile as he told her all about his involvement in The Country Firm. He wanted to shock Deborah and he was also intrigued by what her reaction would be! To say that Deborah was stunned would be to call it an understatement. She had been brought up to respect the law and now she found herself involved with a violent criminal who was organising football hooliganism.
However on the morning of the Yeovil game she found herself drawn like a moth to the naked flame, to Oliver as he set off with Ricky to the meeting point with the Yeovil hooligans at Michael Wood Services. She knew exactly what was going on but couldn't let him go without her! They had just passed the services going southbound when she made her decision. She would fight to change this gorgeous man that she loved so badly it hurt at times.
Things had been further complicated by the phone call she had heard Miles take the day before by pure chance! It had been Inspector Morrison discussing the finer details for Saturday’s operation and after her talk with Oliver it all became blatantly clear the police knew about the meeting place for the fight! The thought of losing Oliver was unbearable after she had only just found him. She knew he would most likely get a lengthy prison sentence for the things he had done and that was something she could not cope with. So as they crossed the motorway to go back up the northbound carriageway Deborah got Oliver to stop the car and with Rick still sitting in the back of the Porsche she had warned him of the police trap and came as close to breaking the law as she ever had done in her twenty four years of living!
Deborah was woken out of her reverie as she relived events of the last few weeks by two of her work colleagues who were openly flirting with Terry Pauls. Miles Grimley had given the whole backroom staff a free trip to the 2nd Round of the Johnstone's Paint Trophy and use of a hospitality box at the ground as a thank you for all the hard work that they had put since the fire at the old Pines Lane. Terrance Fletcher wasn't the best pleased to have the distraction of good looking females on "The Beast" but consoled himself by the thought that at least there weren't valuable league points up for grabs tonight!
There were a couple of changes in the Redbourne side from Saturday with Dwight Edwards being dropped down to the subs bench much to his disgust giving young Ian Hargreaves who was only seventeen his chance to make his full debut for the first team. Also on the bench for the start of the game was Terry Pauls with Matt Sutts another reserve team player being given his chance to start a first team game. Only about three hundred Countrymen fans had made the relatively short journey down to Bristol on this damp late October’s night and the overall crowd couldn't have been more than three thousand as the game kicked off.
The first half was an anti climax for all concerned maybe except for the office staff from Redbourne who were being royally looked after with a free bar in their hospitality box throughout the whole game. For the team and supporters it was a bit like after the Lord Mayor's show for the first half. There was precious little atmosphere within the ground and try as they might they could just not get going. Both Hargreaves and Sutts showed a few good touches but decent football from either side was at a premium, Bristol Rovers seemingly attacked by the same malaise that Redbourne had developed. As the half time whistle went with the scores still goalless there were a few desultory boos from the home fans.
At half time Terrance made the change a lot of Redbourne fans had been expecting. Matt Sutts was taken off and on came Terry Pauls to link up with Jock Mcleish in midfield. The change as the second half started was electric. Miles Grimley by now had arrived in the box he had hired for Redbourne's office staff and watched transfixed as his team suddenly started playing. After just five minutes of the second half Redbourne were in the lead. Terry Pauls started and finished the move. A delightful flick off the outside of his boot wrong footed Green in the Bristol Rovers’ defence. Hargreaves read the ball superbly and put the return ball into the space he intuitively knew that Terry would be running into. Terry taking half a step to control the ball lashed a shot into the far corner of the net leaving Phillips in the R
overs goal with no chance of saving it. The office staff erupted with joy in their hospitality suite and Terry Pauls blew a kiss to the two girls who had been flirting with him earlier much to his team mates amusement!
Down on the bench Terrance's natural inclination was to push his team forward and to kill off the game. However he was also mindful of tiredness kicking in with this match coming so soon after the titanic struggle against Yeovil. For once he dithered unsure of how to go and sat down deep in conversation with his assistant Steve. Out on the field some tired legs were starting to kick in as Bristol Rovers made a determined effort not to slip out of this cup competition. Up in the box Deborah watched with excitement, she had loved football since she was about seven years old and had supported Redbourne with a passion throughout their non-league days. Her job now was a delight for her working for the club that she loved although soon she sensed if she could not change Oliver she may need to choose between love for her football club and her first true love! But for now along with all her work colleagues and Miles they roared their team on hoping that they could hold onto the one goal lead and get through to the area quarter finals!
Bristol Rovers with time running out really began to put some pressure on the Countrymen's defence with the sparse home crowd trying their best to get behind their team. Corner after corner followed for the team in blue and white squares to no avail as the clock ticked away and the Redbourne fans bit their nails or crossed everything they could find to cross for luck! Still the Countrymen defence held firm superbly marshalled by Francis in the goal. It seemed that nothing would beat him that evening then with just minutes left on the clock disaster struck. With everyone back for Redbourne defending yet another corner and all twenty-two players in the Redbourne penalty area a red and black arm went up as the ball was fired in. Penalty screamed the home crowd and players. Everyone looked at the referee as he consulted with his linemen and then after an age he pointed to the spot. Bedlam ensued for a few minutes. Furious protests from the Redbourne players followed amid jeers from the travelling Redbourne Fans but the referee wasn't having any of it.