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MASTERS LEAGUE FOOTBALL
Written by Steve G
The Sheffield Hallam Arena reminded me of Wembley Arena with its outer concourses selling overpriced burgers and coke, disorganised stewarding with the left and right hands completely out of sync and its rock concert hall style inner setting.
But that's all the negatives out of the way because in reality, this was a great event and well worth the long drive. Will Rogers had very kindly sponsored our exclusive competition and it was a great pleasure to present a pair of tickets to both winners outside the arena on late Sunday afternoon. Our winners were;
Chris Rolfe of Darlington and Martin Pryce of Northallerton.
 
Chris Rolfe and daughter Kirsteen, Martin Pryce and daughter Shanice
It was also a pleasure to socialise with the Boro fans in the The Noose and Gibbet pub that is situated close to the arena and find them in a confident mood. The format of the finals was straight knockout and that meant if Boro lost to Rangers in the quarter final, then that was it- we were out after only 16 minutes of football. The other quarter finals were Wolves v Coventry, Liverpool v Everton and Chelsea v Spurs. Each team had ten players with five on the pitch at one time and unlimited substitutions allowed. The Boro lineup was as follows:
1. Kelham O'Hanlon
2. Curtis Fleming
3. Gary Parkinson
4. Dean Windass
5. Mark Proctor
6. Paul Kerr
7. Simon Coleman
8. John Hendrie
9. Peter Duffield
10. Bernie Slaven
There were several noteable names in the other teams including Jan Molby, Gary McAllister and John Wark of Liverpool, a very large Neville Southall of Everton, Steve Bull of Wolves, Micky Thomas and Dmitri Kharin for Chelsea. But the team with the most impressive line-up was Glasgow Rangers, Boro's quarter final opponents who included Ally McCoist, Gordon Dury and Mark Walters in their side.
As a Celtic man, Bernie was obviously relishing the tie and we asked him if he thought Boro had a good chance of winning the tournament;
"Let's hope so. We have some good youthful players like Dean Windass and Curtis Fleming, who both played for their clubs yesterday and it was good of Bradford and Darlington to let them play here tonight. We're going to have a real go and all of the team are up for it..."
Bernie was obviously ready for the challenge and his usual enthusiastic manner shone through from the start. He did the business on the pitch as well as Boro stormed into a two goal lead within a few minutes. Bernie was a constant menace to the Rangers defence as shot after shot flew in and Rangers slowly but surely became overwhelmed. Yet in true Carling Cup Final style, Boro couldn't take their two goal lead into the interval as a Gordon Dury misfire bounced off the wall and fell kindly to Ally McCoist who couldn't believe his luck and fired home to put The Huns back in the game. Boro tired a little in the second half and couldn't find the target and then with five minutes to go, Rangers pushed forward in search of the equaliser. Boro were under pressure now and with all five men back, were barely hanging on when with just twenty seconds to play, Rangers got the equaliser and took the tie to penalities.
Bernie and John Hendrie put their spot kicks confidently away and Boro had the advantage when Kelham O'Hanlon stopped Rangers second. The Glaswegians third attempt was sent well wide by Mark Walters and it was then down to Gary Parkinson to send us into the semi's and he made no mistake, raising the loudest cheer of the night from the Boro fans as we arrived in the last four. We spoke to Gary after the match and asked him what he was doing these days.
"I've retired from playing now and I'm doing some coaching at Preston North End and some work with a Sports and Leisure firm. It's great to be playing in red and white again and I would love to move back to Middlesbrough but I have had no offers up to now. If I was asked to come back to the club or the area, I would jump at the chance."
We also asked Robert Prytz of Rangers how he rated the Boro side.
"They were OK but I thought we were better. The trouble is, we came down from Scotland today and after a long travel, we were tired and took too long to get into the game, which is why Middlesbrough got their early lead. It was too far to come for just 16 minutes of football and the tournament should have been played in groups and not in a knockout format."
I bet William Wallace never complained like that. Boro would meet Steve Bull's Wolves in the semi-final after their win against Coventry, also on penalties. The second semi-final pitted the holders Liverpool against Chelsea.
Dean Windass was finding the going a little heavy tonight after playing the full ninety minutes for Bradford yesterday.
"Yes it was difficult because I was stiff after yesterday's game but once I started running around it was OK. We got beaten 2-0 yesterday but I'm happy to be back in a Boro shirt and looking forward to the semi against Wolves."
Curtis Fleming was experiencing a similar problem after turning out for Darlington yesterday.
"I was very tired this morning after yesterday's Darlington game but I couldn't pass this opportunity over because it was a great chance to meet up again with some of the lads and play against some players who I had never played against before. I followed Proc down today, so because he is here, I don't feel so guilty about it and after winning the Northern Regional Masters, I had to play the finals. The Masters is getting bigger and bigger now that Sky have started to cover it and when Paul Kerr asked me to play, I had to do it. You have to be over thirty five to play and I have just turned thirty six and I might be about to play another final for Middlesbrough against Chelsea. Let's hope so anyway."
Boro started strongly against Wolves and once again stormed into an early lead through Peter Duffield's strong shot, however they again started flagging towards the end of the first half and the eighth minute equaliser came as no surprise.
Wolves looked like they wanted it more in the second half and although they outran and outfought a slightly lethargic Boro side, it seemed as though penalties were once again in store. But into the last minute and Boro's defence was broken and the travelling Wolves support were delighted to see their team through to the final.
"Come On Bull-oi!"
So it was all over for Boro and we were once again left to dream of what might have been as Chelsea lifted the trophy after a deserved final victory against Wolves. Let's hope we get through to this stage next year because this is a great tournament and one that has fully earned it's burgeoning and growing reputation.
THE NORTHERN MASTERS
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