We`re very nearly up. You can touch it. Surely even Bolton Wanderers couldn`t mess this up? Our 2-0 win at Port Vale means if we get a point next Sunday at home to Peterborough, Fleetwood would have to beat the team we beat today by at least nine goals.
Confidence amongst the large contingent of travelling Wanderers fans shot up as news broke that Gary Madine had been named in the starting lineup, but the first half ended up yielding a stalemate. We weren`t bad, but we needed to up the tempo and you couldn`t help but feel you had seen this episode before. That feeling of trepidation didn`t subside in the 33rd minute. Rigino Cicilia tried to control the ball with his hand despite being ion a yellow, and he was given his second booking and his marching orders. But up until now you know how we`ve generally played against ten men on the road.
Not to worry it turns out. Jem Karacan was taken off around the hour mark, who covered as many blades of grass as he could on that big pitch, to be replaced by James Henry, then minutes later, the first goal. It was a free kick, Filipe Morais put it in the box, and David Wheater rose highest to put us ahead and the fans into raptures.
Some got too excited. Several ran onto the pitch, some Vale fans seemed to take exception and quite frankly, I didn`t see what happened, but there were apparently clashes. Excited or not, whoever started it or not, those Bolton fans shouldn`t have been stupid enough to go on the pitch in the first place. The game was delayed for 10 minutes. How would they have felt if the referee had felt fit to abandon the game? If Port Vale were awarded a 3-0 win? Big away followings seem to bring out some of our more special fans, which has been the case the time I`ve been following us.
The game resumed, with a slightly weird atmosphere, with a line of police and stewards in front of the away end, and with Fleetwood not winning at that point we were on the verge of sealing promotion there and then. Vale never looked like equalising, but then any hopes of going up today were spoiled by a 91st minute winner in Kent. With our game still ongoing, Morais set up Madine who marked his return with the goal that sealed all three points.
Now, it`s a case of just not blowing it next Sunday dinnertime.
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