Chapter 146: Victory's Shadow
Saturday, 2 October, 2010
When the final whistle blew at Priestfield Stadium, it felt like a physical release. There were no cheers from the players just bodies sinking to the ground, completely spent.
The rain-soaked, muddy pitch looked less like a field and more like a battlefield they had barely made it through.
In the far corner, a small knot of traveling Crawley fans let out a roar a raw, unfiltered cry of relief that sliced through the silence on the pitch.
At the heart of the defense, Liam McCulloch and Harry Thompson embraced, their faces streaked with mud, shirts clinging to them with sweat. They had held the line.
And after a week of mental battles, they had won the one that mattered most right here on this field.
In the dressing room, the mood wasn't one of wild celebration, but of quiet satisfaction. Niels stood calmly in the center of the room no shouting, no big speech.
