Throughout an erratic campaign, the Sandgrounders have been constantly written off. In October, they began a ten match winless run and were given no chance. Four months ago, they couldn’t move from the foot of the table and were at their lowest ebb. During the bleakest of winters, they obtained one point from a possible thirty and were watched by their lowest crowd of the year.
Tonight, however, they are safe from relegation – and deserve an abundance of plaudits.
This season, there will be no need for a nerve-wracking last day; with updates over the airwaves and messages through mobile phones. Because regardless of the results on Saturday and no matter what materialises from the various off-field shenanigans, Southport are certain to be playing Nationwide Conference football come August.
In the months to come, people will attempt to fathom quite how the Sandgrounders staged such an astonishing comeback having been discarded as relegation certainties. For now, the moment should be savoured, as this feat is something to truly shout about.
‘We will do it,’ claimed manager Liam Watson after seeing his side concede four goals and painfully cut apart by Accrington Stanley in November. Five months later, as he celebrated with those players in front of the delirious seventy supporters who had travelled to a small corner of Essex, there should be no one more proud and no one worthy of greater praise than the ‘Port boss himself.
Since February, Southport have lost on just three occasions and can boast six wins this calendar year. An outstanding return of nine points from their last five games has guided the part-timers over the finishing line – and the virtues that have inspired a sensational turnaround were once again pivotal as they made certain of safety with one game to spare.
Grays Athletic, already guaranteed their play-off place but with home advantage in the second leg still up for grabs, ran riot at Haig Avenue earlier in the season. This time, however, they knew it wasn’t going to be such an easy ride.
Having won eight of their last nine matches and found the target on twenty-eight occasions, the hosts were limited to just six sights of goal. Mark De Bolla put the Blues ahead shortly after the re-start having controlled the opening exchanges, but from then on, it was their opponents who were the more expansive and deservedly drew level through Steve Pickford with twenty-one minutes remaining.
Grays’ best effort of a tight first half fell to John Martin on twenty minutes, when a long ball from Jamie Stuart was flicked on by Dennis Oli, only for the creative midfield man to glaringly drag his shot across the face of the target from six yards.
Despite threatening to unleash their undoubted quality, Athletic were recurrently frustrated in the final third and seldom endangered the visiting goal. Early on, leading scorer Michael Kightly had shot wide, before Glenn Poole’s looping effort was intercepted by goalkeeper Steve Dickinson, and De Bolla badly misplaced despite good approach play.
Defender Joe Bruce hacked away a Neil Robinson effort after Stuart’s slip had presented the Southport frontman with an opportunity to shoot, while the visitors also saw defender Gary Brabin head over and a lob from Liam Blakeman scraped off the line by Christian Hanson with ‘keeper Ashley Bayes stranded.
But the FA Trophy holders, who will defend their crown against Woking at Upton Park next month, nosed in front with forty-nine minutes on the clock. De Bolla smartly turned Pickford, before scoring with a low twenty-five yard effort which crawled into the bottom left-hand corner for the striker’s first goal since joining from Notts County last month.
Contrary to the myth, however, not only does this Southport side possess character and endeavour, but also Conference quality. Once again, Watson’s men battled back from behind to secure the least their efforts deserved and ensure an unpredictable season ends on a high.
Carl Baker, industrious throughout, was unlucky to see his long-range effort flash the wrong side of the upright, while Blakeman forced Bayes into action, before Pickford levelled proceedings. A long throw from Jerome Fitzgerald was cleared only as far as the Sandgrounders’ skipper, whose low effort squirmed through a crowd of players and beyond the reach of the home goalkeeper.
In truth, Southport bossed the closing stages and after substitute Mark Jackson had a shot collected by Bayes, the Grays stopper produced a fine save to deny Blakeman’s curling effort with minutes remaining.
So after months of hard graft, the Sandgrounders are safe at last. The more said about it, the better.
From Grays manager Mark Stimson “Credit to Southport they are scrapping for their lives and they’ve come here and got the point they needed to stay up. I think they and their supporters celebrated that more than we did when we won the Trophy and I’ve said that to the players.”