During the warmups, intimidation tactics were used by the travelling fans, staring at our players and heckling them as they warmed up, Jürgen Kloppesque, this being their attempt to get into the heads of our backline of Bradbrook, Oluwatimilehin, Lewis, and Dickens. With Tarpey, Turner, Hunter and Napa occupying the middle of the pitch and Marshall, Neal and Mills making up our front three. New boy, Ben Bradley, had to settle for the bench along with Brown, Oteng, Bampoe and Dunne.

There was a cagey start to the match with neither side having any chances, the only things being hit were the drums behind both ends. A nervous atmosphere flooded the stadium after the visitors started with more possession, the intimidation tactics looking to have worked... That was until Millsey picked the ball up on the left-hand side and drove towards goal; beating one player, then a second, before letting an outrageous ‘trivela’ shot fly into the top corner, cueing a signature front flip and the MEL to erupt! Usually when a team goes a goal up against a side challenging for an automatic promotion place, they’d sit deep, lock in, and try to get a second on the counter. Well, not us. We just kept going: three corners in a row, alternating sides, before Reuben Marshall flashed a shot wide.

Olu did give everyone in the ground a heart in mouth moment though as he slipped half way through the first half, but he managed to recover well, despite being on the floor, to get the ball away from danger. Wave upon wave of yellow players rushed at the retreating Needham backline, Joe Neal fired a low shot, but it was well saved by the visitors ‘keeper. All of our hard work almost disappeared in an instant, as the Needham attacker found himself free in our penalty area, but he skewered his volley over the top of the goal, phew! Up the other end, Malachi whipped a shot towards the top corner, but it was delightfully saved on to the post by Ex Sud Garnham, the ball bounced across the face of goal after rattling the post, and fell to Reuben Marshall, he fired a shot which was then blocked on the line by one of the many bodies on the crowded goal line. Ben Hunter then teed up a long range strike which travelled at some speed towards Garnham who made another very good stop. Who knows what Graham would have done if that had nestled its way into the bottom corner! JT also tried from distance, but his long shot went just wide of the post.

So, at the break, we went in leading, but by only one, when it could have been two or three without many complaints.

The second half began in a very stop-start fashion as Dye went down for a lengthy period of time, before Malachi was taken off for Romario. Expectedly, the visitors came out sharper at the start of the second 45, Charlie Lewis had to make a wonderful block, on the line, to keep the one goal lead intact. Needham once again came forward, but this time in a more unusual fashion. Jake ran into the referee, who didn’t stop play, and the visitors broke, but Charlie Lewis made a sliding challenge, getting the ball, and as impressive as the tackle was, what was even more impressive was the fact the tackle had been made on a 3G pitch, ouch! It was then Needham’s turn to hit the woodwork, a dinked cross bouncing onto the bar. We made our second change with Reuben Marshall making way for Ollie Brown. With ten minutes to play, Bradbrook made a save, his first save, after grabbing hold of a comfortable header. As we reached the 90, Ben Bradley replaced Ben Hunter to make his debut, and we all wish him a warm welcome, we hope you enjoy the ride. Seven minutes were shown on the board, out of nowhere really, and frustration grew amongst the crowd, who believed only four minutes had been added. Finally, after what seemed like the longest seven minutes of my life, we held on for a famous Derby Day victory, as we completely tore apart the pre-match script.

Well then, that is three wins on the bounce, we climb out of the relegation zone, and into the top six of the form rankings. This team is something special. This season has been a roller coaster of emotions, there have been ups and downs, and we are only half way through the season. As long as fans, parents, volunteers carry on doing our bit, right now the players are showing how much they appreciate us with these outstanding performances. Let’s keep backing Marc Abbott’s Yellow-Blue army. Happy New Year, Yellows, 2024 is going to be a good one.

UP THE SUDS

By Isaac Mennie