A TURNING point for the season maybe? A platform at least. Jersey Bulls had beaten one of their nearest rivals at home – and what a goal it was that changed things from stasis to ecstasy.
“The boys are buzzing,” said assistant manager Kevan Nelson. And as well they might after a huge performance in the second half.
One man that will be buzzing more than any other will be Fraser Barlow. It was his precise strike that cut through the tension like a surgeon with a scalpel.
His strike that will give his team renewed vigour and confidence to tackle the rest of the season. His strike that sends a sports reporter flicking through his thesaurus looking for the most appropriate superlative.
It was one that would grace any pitch in the world. It could not have been any more perfect. The whip, the pace, the accuracy, arcing outwards and back in as far into the top corner as it could go. The curl was outrageous, outstanding, exceptional.
Make no mistake, with the clock running down the game needed it. Bulls needed it.
These were two evenly matched teams going head-to-head, toe-to-toe and not always for the ball. It was physical, it was tough, without anyone ever losing their heads.
Abbey Rangers never sat back, but never compromised either. Bulls likewise, but just as it was looking like they would cancel each other out, the hosts were just starting to exert territorial dominance on their guests.
And then it came. Luke Watson laid the ball into Lorne Bickley who did what he needs to be used more for, held the ball up on the edge of the penalty area, then laid to Barlow to execute his left-footed wonder strike.
It was just the tonic Bulls needed before the mulled brew on the pitch could turn bitter. It pepped them up. It revitalised them.
Watson had a header at the far post that was well saved. Jonny Le Quesne hit a low drive to the near post that just went wide.
Then, deep into stoppage time, they closed the game off just as the stage hands were preparing to close the curtains on the show.
Barlow, turning creator, showing tenacity to take ball off his marker along the touchline, laid the ball back to a grateful Watson to finish from close range, a deflection giving it the lift it needed to defy the Abbey goalkeeper.
Manager Gary Freeman has repeatedly advocated the virtue of patience. His team needed it, but boy did it pay off.
Before Barlow came and won them the game, there was nary a clear-cut chance at either end.
A mistake by Will Byers nearly let in the Abbey No.10 in the first half. Luke Campbell snatched at a difficult volley in the second.
That was it. Otherwise it was dog bites dog in the middle of the park, while two defences commanded a barricade that closed off all routes to goal.
The game needed something special. It got it.
