LIAM’S A PIC-TURE OF HOPE
AFTER overturning the odds to stun league runners-up Coalville Town in Wednesday’s play-off semi-final, Rushall Olympic manager Liam McDonald is hoping his side can repeat the trick and make history tomorrow against Nuneaton Borough.
The Pics were seconds away from victory in regular time before a last-gasp equaliser from Coalville’s Tom McGlinchey sparked pandemonium among the home crowd and set up a tense period of extra-time.
Despite this heartbreak, McDonald’s side kept their heads to win 4-3 in a penalty shoot-out and now have a chance to etch themselves into club folklore tomorrow, with just one game standing between the West Midlands club and a first ever appearance in Step 2.
“Coalville were the best team in the division all season and were so unlucky to not get automatic promotion, so to knock them out was quite an extraordinary feeling,” McDonald told The NLP.
“We went into that game as the underdogs, but I was desperate for the lads to not just come and make up the numbers.
“It was 0-0 at half-time and I went for quite an aggressive team talk. The white board was flying around the dressing room! I needed to get the message across to the lads that we deserved to be there and shouldn’t be afraid of anyone.
“I think it had the desired effect because we came out and scored. Conceding an equalizer in the dying seconds was tough but before extra-time I just told the lads to take the sting out of the game for the next 15 minutes and they did just that.
“We kind of fancied ourselves if it went to penalties because the pressure was on them. They were the ones who had come so close to automatic promotion and were expected to get through.
”It was just one of those nights where things seemed to go our way. Our keeper Jake Weaver hadn’t saved a penalty all season and then turned into the superstar in the shoot-out.”
McDonald’s side just crept into the final play-off spot having finished a place and six points behind Nuneaton in the regular table.
But they enjoyed the better of the two matches with Boro, following up a goalless draw on their last visit to Liberty Way in October with a 3-0 home win last month.
Borough, of course, will be expected to be backed by a considerable home crowd but Rushall boss McDonald fears no one and believes his squad’s experience of the big-game atmosphere this week will hold them in good stead.
“We’ve been one of the best away teams this year and are used to quietening down crowds,” he added.
“Coalville had a few thousand there on Wednesday, but we managed the atmosphere brilliantly and I expect us to do the exact same on Monday.
“I’m just so excited. This is already the best Rushall Olympic side there has ever been, but we have a chance to pull off something amazing and take the club further than anyone’s wildest dreams.”