Lewes 2 vs Hashtag Utd 1: Loving the run-in

You are a strange lot. As soon as this season had absolutely nothing left to play for (Fenix glory aside), you came out of your homes in your droves. Almost 2,000 for Whitehawk on Easter Monday, around 750 for the midweeker against Horsham on Tuesday (sizeable for an evening kick-off) and then a slice over 1,700 for the visit of a YouTube channel yesterday.

Conventional wisdom says crowds swell at the end of the season when there’s something riding on it. You lot come out when all jeopardy has evaporated. If nothing else, this appetite for absolutely nothing happening at least explains the enduring popularity of Emmerdale.

Actually, it’s a bit harsh to say there was nothing going on. There was, of course, Tony’s big announcement that he was signing off at the end of the season, just a few days after the women’s manager had tendered his resignation. With CEO Maggie also off to pastures new, I hope the Supporters Club’s Maintenance Crew has checked the hinges on the exit door, as it’s going to get a lot of wear over the next couple of weeks.

Tony’s exit coincides with the best run of form we’ve had all season. Four wins on the bounce, including this one, leaving the gaffer set for a remarkable record: if we win at Haringey Borough next week, he’ll have recorded precisely 20 league wins in each of his three seasons at the club (hat tip to Big Deaksy for the stat). That win would also leave a record of finishing 7th, 6th and 7th, surely making him the most consistent manager to have ever graced the Rooks dugout.

Still, at least that record makes the board’s job of replacing him much easier. Simply ask prospective managers at interview whether they can guarantee 21 wins a season, and we’ll be almost guaranteed the play-offs. This board lark really is very easy.

It looked like Tony’s 20-20-20 record might go up in smoke after the first half. The game was pretty end-to-end in the first half, no more so than when Hashtag took the lead midway through it. Marcus Sablier’s whipped corner stung the near post, and Hashtag mounted an instant counter-attack that resulted in Max Cornhill nodding home.

Yet, if the scriptwriters were on strike in the first half, they woke up just in time for the second.

Brad Pritchard, the only player to have survived all three years of Russell’s reign, was almost certainly playing his last game at The Pan. And with the club deciding to add him to the Hall of Fame, it was fitting that the man with the marrows popped up to notch the equaliser. Kalvin Lumbombo-Kalala wriggled free down the left and put in a delicious cross that Pritch arrived late to convert at the near post.

Brad collected his Hall of Fame trophy at the end of the game, along with a handful of Romaine Lettuce leaves:

Talk about reap what you sow.

The winner was a bit special, and almost a photocopy of his goal against Horsham in the week, with Ola cutting inside from the left and launching it low into the bottom corner.

Hashtag threatened to spoil the end-of-season party, not least when they nodded a very presentable chance on to the post just moments after Ola’s pearler. But we held on to keep the 20 wins dream alive.

All that remained was for Brian Ashdown to collect his richly deserved Best Dressed Supporter of the Season award from Arthur Penney: