In this, the second of a 2 part journey through Brechin City’s Championship Play-Off winning season of 2016/17, we pick up the story in January and re-live events right through to the season’s dramatic conclusion in May.

JANUARY:

The first foots to Glebe Park were Peterhead in a game only made possible through the surface protection provided by the much-maligned pitch covers. City fans might have rather it hadn’t gone ahead, with the home side losing out to a towering header from former home favourite Rory McAllister. With the squad still down to the bare bones, a 1-0 reverse at Coatbridge was most notable for the only playing appearance of the season from Player-Manager Darren Dods – although his 20 minute contribution as City’s only substitute wasn’t enough to salvage anything from a poor performance. The early cup exit and the postponement of a home game v Queen’s Park meant that the only other action was a 3-0 defeat at league leaders Livingston, which passed a late pitch inspection – demonstrating that other clubs were struggling too with their playing surfaces. On the playing front the month saw the return to Aberdeen of loanee Connor McLennan, and a welcome return to The Glebe of former loanee Liam Watt as a Brechin City player.

FEBRUARY:

Glebe Park survived a late inspection to allow a 2-2 draw with Stenhousemuir to go ahead, but suffered a postponement the following week v Airdrieonians – before successive away defeats to East Fife and Stranraer saw City drop to a season-low of 6th. The performance at New Bayview was mixed, fighting back from 2-0 down with goals from Andy Jackson and Willie Dyer, before losing 3-2, with Alan Trouten receiving a red card. The trip to the far south west saw the home side secure their first 3 point haul of the season against City, leaving Darren Dods’ side still looking for their first victory of 2017. It would finally arrive on the last day of the month, with a 3-1 midweek victory in the re-arranged clash with Queen’s Park. The 93rd minute clincher from Andy Jackson was significant in that it signalled the start of what would be a remarkable scoring spree with ‘Jacko’ going on to score a goal in 6 consecutive games as City worked exceptionally hard to return to form.

MARCH:

Jacko’s run would continue with the only strike in a 1-0 victory at Balmoor against Peterhead, and he would score again – along with a double from Ally Love – in a quite remarkable midweek game against Airdrieonians. The 3-0 scoreline belies the real back-story, with the game kicking off at 8.50pm after the vast majority of City players and management were held up in significant traffic disruption following an accident on the Forth Road Bridge. Typically, the players’ pre-match preparation was a blend of 4 hours sitting in a car and arriving at Glebe Park less than half-an-hour before the eventual kick-off time. This adversity clearly galvanised Darren Dods' men, with the second half performance in particular belying the quite bizarre circumstances. To their credit City went on to claim an invaluable victory against a Diamonds side in good form at the time. Out of seemingly no-where (and reminiscent of last season) City suddenly had 3 wins on the bounce, and were only denied a fourth by the concession of a stoppage time equaliser at Hampden Park against Queen’s Park. Play-Off rivals Alloa Athletic were next to visit The Glebe and would grab all three points primarily due to an uncharacteristic error by keeper Graeme Smith in stoppage time in a game which City maintained their good form – if not their unbeaten sequence. The trend of stoppage time goals would then turn in City’s favour in a home clash v another play-off rival East Fife, with Andy Jackson thumping in a 91st minute winner which would go on to win the Club’s online Goal-of-the-Season poll. ‘Jacko’ would also receive wider recognition as he received the March Ladbrokes League One Player of the Month Award for his goalscoring exploits.

APRIL:
By now well into the final round of League One fixtures, City started April with the customary defeat to Livingston – a team City had failed to ‘land-a-glove’ on in four clashes – and followed this up by a somewhat tepid 3-1 defeat at Airdrie. The run-in then seemed to have imploded somewhat with a 6-1 mauling at Alloa Athletic. Despite taking the lead, City were already 3-1 behind before ‘Buzz’ conceded a penalty and got himself sent off in an off-the-ball incident leaving the home side, with their tails up, to take full advantage. This left City in 5th place, and a run-in against 3 of the bottom 4 sides to secure a play-off spot – or not – and facing this without their first choice goalkeeper. A 0-0 draw against Stranraer steadied the ship, and was followed up by a 1-0 home victory over Albion Rovers thanks to a goal from skipper Paul McLean. Importantly, 2 assured performances from the amiable Paddy O’Neil in goal provided clean sheets at a crucial time. A play-off spot would be assured if City could secure a draw at Ochilview against a Stenhousemuir side desperate for a victory to avoid automatic relegation to League Two. An early Alan Trouten penalty contributed to a 1-1 draw, a result which would consign The Warriors to relegation – although City’s aspiration for play-off success appeared to be significantly inhibited by what looked like season-ending injuries to both ‘Trouts’ and Ally Love.

Over the season, this was a quite remarkable achievement. Despite fluctuating form throughout the season, it was clear that when City had their strongest team on the park, they were well capable of competing – and competing well – at the top end of League One. The final league placings were as follows:

1st Livingston: 81 pts (GD +48)
2nd Alloa Athletic: 62 pts (GD +25)
3rd Airdrieonians: 52 pts (GD -5)
4th Brechin City: 50 pts (GD -6)
5th East Fife: 46 pts (GD -3)
6th Queen’s Park: 46 pts (GD -14)
7th Stranraer: 44 pts (GD -4)
8th Albion Rovers: 42 pts (GD -7)
9th (R) Peterhead: 40 pts (GD -15)
10th (R) Stenhousemuir: 39 pts (GD -19)

MAY:

Championship Play-Off Semi-Final – Raith Rovers

As is the play-off norm, there was little time to dwell on this, with the first play-off tie arriving only four days later. A notable midweek Glebe Park crowd of over 1000, with a healthy and expectant contingent from Fife, saw City defy the odds against a Raith Rovers side who had lost out in a 3-way tussle to avoid the Championship Relegation Play-Off slot. A penalty from Ross Caldwell on the stroke of half-time was cancelled out by a long range free-kick equaliser midway through the second half, leaving most observers predicting a comfortable home win for the Starks Park side in the return tie. However, an inspired performance against an increasingly troubled home side in front of 2932 spectators would ensure a dramatic afternoon. After a goal-less first half, Ross Caldwell put City ahead, only for the Fifers to equalise. A goal from substitute Alan Trouten (making an earlier than anticipated return from injury) put City in the driving seat with only 6 minutes to go. A 91st minute equaliser broke the hearts of the 250+ City travelling support and when Rovers took the lead for the first time in the tie, it seemed that football convention would routinely ensure that the full-time side would progress. Darren Dods’ men were having none of it, as Liam Watt stepped up to score directly from a 25-yard free kick – City’s first goal of the season directly from a free-kick strike – and take the tie to a penalty shoot-out. This took place in front of the expectant and nervous City fans, giving ‘Buzz’ – who hadn’t saved a penalty in 18 months – an opportunity to grab the spotlight. ‘Buzz’ stepped up to the mark, producing no less than 3 saves (including one from former City favourite Bobby Barr) meaning that misses by Liam Watt and Paul McLean would become irrelevant, allowing Andy Jackson to step forward and stroke home the winning penalty. This sparked off memorable scenes of jubilation for City players and coaches in front of the delirious away following. City had now relegated teams on successive Saturdays, and it’s to Raith Rovers’ credit how many of their fans stayed on to applaud the City players off the pitch.

Championships Play-Off Final – Alloa Athletic

With the return of BBC Alba for a live Wednesday evening TV broadcast, both sides fought hard to ensure there was something to play for in the return tie. City had faced Alloa twice previously in play-offs, albeit in semi-final ties, losing the first leg at home, winning the second away – but ultimately losing out on aggregate. This sequence was broken as City won the game 1-0 thanks to an early second half goal from Elliot Ford – his first for the Club. Although it was the most slender of leads, most outside the City camp predicted a home victory in the return as being sufficient to see an Alloa side, who had finished a mighty twelve points ahead of Brechin, go on to secure a return to The Championship. In a 5.15 kick-off to allow for BBC Alba’s broadcast, the game blasted into life after a fairly tepid first half hour or so, when James Dale curled an exquisite right foot shot into the top corner to score his first goal for The Club and put City two goals ahead in the tie. The home side surged up the park immediately from the re-start and earned a penalty when Paul McLean blocked a goal-bound effort with his arm, and went on to take the lead before half-time to restore parity in the tie. Paul McLean headed City back in front only to be pegged back again by a superbly well executed overhead kick, but Darren Dods’ side nosed ahead again through a sublime finish from the impressive Liam Watt. Moments later the home side levelled the tie again, to finish the scoring and take the tie firstly to extra time, and ultimately to a penalty shoot-out. In a turn of events which would see this squad leap into Brechin City folklore, a ‘Buzz’ save from home hat-trick hero Greig Spence, meant a miss from Andy Jackson was inconsequential, with strikes from Willie Dyer, Dougie Hill, Alan Trouten and Ally Love prolonging the drama. An Alloa strike against the post left City, quite incredibly, one strike away from securing promotion to the Championship. Up stepped James Dale to gleefully slam the ball high into the net and earn himself his own part in Brechin City history alongside names like Marc Millar and Chris Templeman as scorers of dramatic, late, promotion winning Brechin City goals. At the seventh attempt City had finally won a Play-Off promotion and could hardly have done so in more gripping manner, with two 4-4 aggregate ties and two penalty shoot-out victories.

It brought the season to a soul-stirring climax for the City faithful creating indelible memories as, amidst emotional scenes, as the players, coaches and management joined the supporters to celebrate an outstanding achievement in The Club’s history.