Ian Watson bemoans 'crazy two minutes' as South Shields fall to play-off final defeat

Ian Watson bemoaned a ‘crazy two minutes’ as Kidderminster Harriers landed a quickfire double blow to win the National League North play-off final and end South Shields’ hopes of claiming promotion into the top flight of the non-league game.

The visitors arrived at the 1st Cloud Arena looking for a third consecutive win over the Mariners after they were the only side to complete a league double over Ian Watson’s men during the regular season. After a bright opening 25 minutes from the hosts, the Harriers gradually found their feet in the game and they laid the foundations for their return to the National League when Kieren Donnelly and Charlie Cooper both found the net in the space of two minutes.

Despite that double blow, the Mariners created a number of chances throughout the second-half with Sonny Finch, Robbie Tinkler and top goalscorer Paul Blackett and going close to reducing the arrears and handing their side a route back into the game. However, a disciplined and organised visitors side held firm and sparked wild celebrations from 1,200 travelling supporters in the away end at the 1st Cloud Arena when referee Tolu Sangowawa blew the full-time whistle after eight minutes of injury-time.

An understandably disappointed Watson praised the effort his players produced throughout the game and the season as a whole - but he pointed to a missed chances and the lack of concentration that cost them two goals in as many minutes as the reasons behind a heartbreaking defeat.

He told The Gazette: “It’s a tough day for everyone at the football club. I think it’s made tougher because, in my opinion, we were the better team and we created a lot of chances. We just had a crazy two minutes, which has ultimately costs, it’s cost us not just the game, but it’s cost us promotion. So it hurts that extra bit more. But we gave everything, we gave everything all season, the boys gave everything and that’s all we can ask.”

Opportunity

Despite their anguish at the full-time whistle, Watson and his players can reflect on a season of progression after they made a push for the league title and promotion that few had predicted ahead of the campaign. Missing out on promotion on two occasions was a blow for the Mariners boss after what he described as ‘an unbelievable season.”

He said: “I think it’s why it hurts so much at this level because only one goes up. You can have an unbelievable season, you can get 99 goals, you can get 95 points, but it’s not enough because you have to go into the play-offs and that’s tough at this level. Again, we just wanted to put in a performance out there that would give us an opportunity to win the game. I felt we did that but we just haven’t took the chances.”

South Shields: Watson, Tinkler, Bainbridge, McGurk, Blackett (Wheeldon), Mann, Finch, Alcock (Scott), Dodds (Sykes), Carson (Robson), Roles (Kelly) Subs: Sheik, Morse

Kidderminster Harriers: Dibble, Devine, Obi, Donnelly (Morgan-Smith), Faakye, Walker (Thompson), Evans, Davis, Cooper (Kandola), Reynolds (Johnson), Robinson Subs: Lovett, Hall, Love

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