I fish out my old programmes, flicking through them to try and find the one I want. "Dammit", I say, cursing myself for not buying one for that particular match, the most memorable game from my time spent at the Carlisle Grounds. Why, oh why, did I not pick one up from that night? My stomach churns with regret instantly, knowing that these mementos could soon be priceless.
The game was Bray Wanderers vs Monaghan United in the second leg of a relegation/promotion playoff in 2010. I should note that the matches themselves were actually almost entirely forgettable. Both legs finished 0-0 after normal time, and extra-time was looking the same. On top of it all it was pouring down all night long at the Wicklow venue, with the crowds shuffling into the makeshift stand by the second half.
It stayed that way until the 119th minute. An in-swinging corner for United is initially cleared, but falls for Don Tierney, a cup winner with Bray of all people, to finally draw first blood. From my angle I can't see exactly how it's gone in, but it turns out it was going wide before going in off Chris Shields, a cruel own goal that looks like sending the Seagulls down. What happened next was the single most incredible thing I've seen at a sporting event.
The Monaghan team go over to their supporters and celebrate in a massive pile-up. The fans rush down to them, but in their excitement they break through the wall, falling onto the pitch. I see a substitute leaving the sideline, encouraging others to join the celebration. They think it's all over.
It takes about ten or more minutes to restart the game as stewards clear the rubble. When it does, Monaghan have retreated to their third of the pitch to see out the game. A long ball is hurtled towards the box, and Shields heads it inside in the hope that someone will save him from the ignominy of relegating his own team. The goalkeeper Gabriel Sava is there to catch it, it should be safe as houses, but all that rain has taken away any chance at a firm landing. He falls frontwards, the ball bouncing out of his hands and without a moment's hesitation Jake Kelly whips it into the net. Jubilant scenes follow but that's not even the end of it.
Penalties have to decide the fate of these two teams. Gary Shaw misses the third for Bray, and Monaghan can win it with their last, but it's blazed high and wide by Byrne. Wanderers are back in it as the shootout enters sudden death. Paul Whelan misses the eighth penalty kick for The Magic Mons, allowing Bray the opportunity to retain their Premier Division status. The game comes full circle as the winning attempt comes from none other than Chris Shields.
Pandemonium doesn't do justice for the reaction we had following that game. It gave us enough memories to last a lifetime. Jumping like crazy in the stand, getting my shoes soaked as we joined the pitch invasion, goalie Brian Kane politely declining my brother's request for his game jersey, taking home the giant celebratory bottle of champagne, hugging Gary Shaw and telling him he's a beautiful man.
They say the good moments supporting your local team will always outweigh the bad, but there's got to be a limit. This past week has been one of the most tumultuous in the history of Bray Wanderers, which is saying something coming from a club that has dipped in and out of controversy over the last decade. Relegation battles, financial scares, misspent government grants, players wages going unpaid, incidences of racism and homophobia. You name it, they got it.
Unfortunately we have now gotten to the sorry state where this trumps the lot of them. From the sale of Dylan Connolly to Dundalk to the releasing of a statement at half-time of a game to the revelation that the club has no money to pay its players, the situation has become irreversibly toxic. Some are saying that they will finish out the season with the U-19s on the pitch, while there are rumblings that the club might not even exist come next week. How perversely fitting then, that my favourite memory should come from a game against Monaghan United, a club that folded midway through the 2012 season.
Bray Wanderers statement = Comical 😂😂😂
— Gary Dempsey (@Dempz8) June 30, 2017
Bray seemed to regularly find a way through the tough times. On several occasions when the club was officially relegated, they were saved from relegation via the financial incompetence of other teams. Or last season when going down seemed a certainty, Harry Kenny came along and saved us. It happened so often that an air of invincibility surrounded the club, and of course you never think it'll happen to your team.
I always felt awful for the fans of teams that went out of business, like Monaghan, Kildare County, Kilkenny City, Sporting Fingal, Dublin City. But you can never know what they're going through until it happens to you and your club. At the time of writing it is unclear what the future will hold. Bray could fold, or they could find some money down the back of the couch and continue on. Who knows, but the situation looks ominous, and the feeling that your team might not be there anymore is sickening.
It's said that losing a football club is like losing a family member, which I think is only partially true. I think we can all think of one person we've lost in our lives that we'd choose to have back over a sports team. The point, however, is that clubs are supposed to last forever. They are institutions in our community, and for whatever reason makeup part of our personal identity.
At the moment none of the fans really want to identify with Bray Wanderers and what it currently represents. Can you blame us?
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