LEE  GARDNER

At what stage did you realise we would be bottom of the league going into
the last game of the season?   It was after the Plymouth game in midweek, just watching teletext permanently for 90 mins was bad enough.  As soon as I'd seen they were 2-0 up I thought this is it, we are gonna have to rely on Scarborough slipping up on Saturday and us winning as well.  I really thought the odds were stacked against us.

How did you cope getting through that last week?  It was very hard, I had warned people at work not to mention it as I was worked up enough as it was, I did not want reminded constantly of our plight, as I was aware of it, and had been all throughout the season.

Did you hesitate about going to the game?   No never, I cannot stay away, its like a drug now.  I'm addicted. Although I could not watch if my beloved United went down.

How did you feel as you walked into the ground?   It was really weird everyone was acting like we were already down, the crowd was huge, as I expected it to be, I knew a lot were coming down not to support United but just to buy programmes thinking it was there last game in the football league, that really hurt me.  I must admit I was not confident going into the game

When did you here that Peterborough had scored?  It went round the ground, I think some bloke in front of me said that they had scored, but you know the usual rumours I didn't know they were true until around 5000 folk were jumping up and down, that still sends a shiver down my spine listening to the commentary of the game and the match video.

When the Dobie goal was disallowed, did you feel it wouldn't be our day?  I really thought that was it, it was a perfectly good goal and cannot still see why Fraser Stretton disallowed the goal.  I thought that's it the luck is not with us kiss goodbye to the football league.

At half time were you optimistic or depressed?  A bit of both really, optimistic that we only needed one goal, but depressed too as Scarborough had equalised and our fate may not be in our own hands.

When Plymouth scored what were your feelings?  I really thought that was it, game over. Conference football for us next season.  I really thought if we were gonna win it it would have to be 1-0, as we had struggled to score all season long.

When Brightwell scored how did you feel?   I was elated, like a new found confidence I thought we need to score pretty sharpish but we only need one more goal, surely the lads could manage one more goal.

At the end of normal time Colin Carter came on the tannoy announcing  the
Scarborough final score and tried to lift the crowd, what were your feelings
then?  That was the lift the crowd needed and to be fair I think it spurred the players on, god knows what the FA would say to it, him giving out the final score.  It was also the queue for another chill down my spine one of three all afternoon.

What were you thinking as we won the corner and Pearson waved jimmy forward?  I thought this is it, if we do not score here then we are down.  I was gutted I could hardly bare to look.  My emotions went from crying with pain, to crying with joy, never before have I experienced such a change in emotion in the space of 3 seconds.

What was your thoughts when Glass scored?  Oh god I really didn't know what to do, I looked at my mate and said f**king hell the keepers scored Jimmy's scored.  I couldn't believe I lifted my mate in the air, god knows where the strength came from.  I sank to my knees and cried before running half the length of the heaving paddock to find my mate and plant a smacker on his cheek.  Football makes you do weird things.  I have never ever experienced such a moment in my life, and I will never ever experience another moment like that in my entire life, of that I AM SURE.

Did you go on the pitch after the game?  I was dancing and kissing the grass when the final whistle went, I could not believe what had just happened on the football pitch before me.  This was fairytale stuff

How did you feel after it was all over that day?  I could not wait to get to work and see all the people who had slagged Carlisle off saying they would go down, it was 1-0 to me, I admit it was the only time I looked forward to going into work on a Monday morning. 

Looking back on that day now, how important  do you feel that game was?  Oh it was massive, if we had gone out the repercussions would have been massive, no way could we survive in the Conference with the wages the players were on, a lot of people would not go back attendances would dip dramatically.  It just didn't bear thinking about really.

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