Never the Bride

Time stopped as the ball trickled along the front of the goal. 19,000 people stopped breathing. Our entire season rested on this ball rolling over the line and into the back of the net. Agonisingly, it didn't quite make it; bouncing off the post and into play before being hacked away. I can only picture the scenes had it of gone it.  I think my head would have come off.

We arrived at the ground fresh from our now traditional stop at the Harvester 15 miles or so short of the park & ride which dropped us by the away end. There was that second leg feel both inside and outside the ground. Songs spewed out on the Forest concourse and spilled up into the stand as kick off approached.

Swansea had the good idea to turn off the music before to try and improve the atmosphere. Until the bloke with the mike announced this I hadn't even registered this, such was the noise from all corners of the Liberty. It got louder as the teams entered the pitch.

Some Forest supporters held a large banner aloft which simply read: 'In Billy We Trust'. I was watching him, waiting for him to spot it. When he finally did he looked chuffed and waved and clapped in their direction. I do think that little exchange had much to do with his great gesture of greeting the fans of the official coaches upon their return to the City Ground in the early hours.

The mood was severly dented by half time. Despite our bright start and positive approach we looked out of it. Still, the away end raised the sound from the start of the second half and we got a response. It is usually the last quarter of play-off ties when we collapse but this time we did anything but. We rode our luck at times with Swansea having a couple of chances to kill the game but nobody could fault the resurgent Reds; they did everything they could.

Come the end, when Pratley scored the mood was defiant and mostly positive. Home fans poured onto the pitch but many of the Forest players didn't budge. Ned Kelly ran on to get Gunter off, presumably as he would have been a prime target for a jubilant Swansea supporter. Once all Swansea players had left the pitch, the home fans turned their attention to us. They congregated in front of us and seemed to be undecided whether to clap or abuse.

Suddenly, I was remarkably surprised to see who else but Billy Davies pushing his way through the masses! He and Ned clapped the Forest end and were joined by a few of the players who had managed to remain on the pitch, including Gunter. Tyson, in what was most probably his final game spent a long time down the front saying his goodbyes.

It will be a big summer with likely departures hopefully being replaced with a plethora of signings. There really isn't any point trying to predict what will happen but hopefully we might all just be pleasantly surprised.

While it has ended in heartache once again at least we can look back on some brilliant moments over the last nine months. But there will be one moment which will remain with me over the long, tedious summer months. Not the demolition of Derby at Christmas, not the great win at Cardiff, the comeback against Pompey or even the chaos when Earnshaw bagged the winner at Pride Park. For none if it even compares to the the joy of watching Trigger buy Pick 'n' Mix at a service station on the way home from Swansea! How much!?!?

See you in August.