The cider will taste that little bit sweeter in these parts after Bristol City secured a place in the Championship playoffs for the first time in 17 years. At the final whistle, everyone of a Bristol City persuasion had to wait a little longer for confirmation, the sold-out home crowd and those on the pitch.
A draw at home to Preston, who averted relegation on the final day, would be sufficient providing Blackburn came up short. Liam Manning, his assistant Chris Hogg and a throng of players huddled around Harry Cornick, the striker not in the squad, whose phone carried updates from Bramall Lane, where a Blackburn goal would have changed everything.
Then came the guttural roar and relief, news Blackburn could not find a winner in more than 10 minutes of stoppage time at Sheffield United. The squad bobbed in celebration, the home fans flooded the pitch, presumably relaying the message of what this all means as they bear-hugged players.
A red and white haze courtesy of flares and smoke bombs billowed into the sky. The pitch emptied before Bristol City’s players were re-introduced to the field as playoff semi-finalists, with Sheffield United their opponents, the first leg here on Thursday.
Arguably the moment of the day came more than 45 minutes after full-time, when Manning and his six-year-old son, Isaac, made tracks towards the Section 82, the core supporters in a throbbing corner of the South Stand, who invited the pair to celebrate together and truly kickstart the party with a series of fist pumps.
“I had to force him to do it … he said about doing it during the week and then he bottled it a little, so I had to give him a nudge,” said Manning, who suffered personal tragedy with the loss of his baby son Theo last October. “It’s been a tough year for me so it was a special moment to be able to do that with my family at the end.
“I nearly cried about three times today. It has been emotional. A huge amount of credit to the lads – they have got me through the last six months. I’m pretty sure I wouldn’t be sitting here if it wasn’t for them.”
A while afterwards, with the on-pitch end-of-season awards wrapped up, Drink Up Thy Zider, a staple victory anthem, sounded over the speakers. Outside in the fan village, the Wurzels could scarcely have picked a better day for an hour-long set in the Somerset sunshine. “A reminder to all supporters to stay off the pitch at full-time,” came the address from the stadium announcer approaching the final whistle. Who was he kidding? The red half of the city will drink in the achievement across the bank holiday before returning here on Thursday.
A win would have rendered results elsewhere redundant but Preston stunned the home side by surging into a two-goal lead. By the end, the outcome trumped the result but the Bristol City captain Jason Knight’s strike, a minute after Ross McCrorie equalised, will stick in the memory. Knight ripped a right-foot rocket against the crossbar as the hosts pushed for a winner. “I need him to improve his shooting because an inch lower and he would have made my life a lot easier,” Manning said, grinning. “I’m looking forward to a beer right now.”
Until McCrorie pulled a goal back in the 69th minute, everything had been going pear-shaped for the hosts. Preston had just doubled their advantage through Milutin Osmajic and so all eyes were on the scores involving Millwall and Blackburn. McCrorie then equalised, racing on to a superb pass by Knight, who richly deserved the players’ player and the player of the season prizes.
The fact Luton were 5-1 down at West Brom after 61 minutes in effect secured Preston’s place in the division next season, even though Luton, who suffered successive relegations, rallied back to 5-3. “You’re staying down with the Preston,” the away fans sang gleefully minutes before Osmajic struck. Bristol City have far grander ambitions for the rest of this campaign.
Source: theguardian.com
