Shildon manager Gary Forrest reckoned that Barcelona wouldn’t have been able to play on the Culverden pitch after the Railwaymen lost the first leg of their semi final by 2-0 against Tunbridge Wells.

The match was in doubt right up to an hour before kick off, when referee Mike Bull decided to pass a quagmire of a pitch fit, and allow the hundreds of queueing fans into the Culverden ground.

But it was clear during the warm up that the heavy pitch wouldn’t help Shildon’s style of play, although that didn’t excuse some poor finishing, and a careless tackle that led to a penalty. There was even some speculation early in the game that it would be abandoned, as players slipped and slithered on several areas of the pitch. The usual trotted out excuses from match officials about postponing games for health and safety reasons and being afraid of possible litigation from injured players were obviously overlooked.

However, Forrest still believes that Shildon can overhaul the two goal deficit at Dean Street this Saturday, and set up a possible all Northern League final, depending on what happens seven miles away in the other semi final.

“The pitch was ridiculous, and the game shouldn’t have been played,” said Forrest. “When the referee spoke to me, he said that if it was a league game, it wouldn’t have taken place. So what’s the difference between a league game and a cup game? Barcelona couldn’t play on that pitch.

“I was told that I would get a chance to get some input in his decision, but when we got to the ground, I was told that the referee had made his mind up that the match was going ahead.

“Our problem was that we couldn’t pass the ball around as well as we normally do, the ball was sticking in places and moves were breaking down, and so we had to hit balls into the box instead. The condition of the field was the reason behind their first goal when Chris Hunter tried to play a 30 yarder and the ball slowed in the mud. After that, we seemed to feel a bit sorry for ourselves, and we conceded a soft penalty.

“After we went 2-0 down, the players wanted to push forward and try and pull a goal back, but I told them not to, because the last thing we wanted was to be caught on the break again and concede a third. In that case, it could have been game over.

“But I told the players in the dressing room that it’s only half time. We know quite a bit more about Tunbridge Wells, just as we did with Ascot in the first game. Plus, a 2-0 lead is a tricky one for their manager, does he go on the defensive, or does he go on the offensive for a third? I’ve only got one option, and that’s to go for it.

“We can come back from this, because remember it’s only half time in a two legged semi. We were 2-0 down at Consett earlier in the competition and won 3-2, and we were a goal down against Ascot with just a few seconds remaining, drew 1-1 and then won the replay. So it can be done, and we’re confident that we’ll be able to do it. We’ll be working like mad on our pitch this week to make sure that it’s in the best possible condition, because we can’t play the football we want on a heavy pitch like Saturday’s.

“What we want now is as many people as possible to turn up and support is in the return leg this Saturday, because it’s certainly far from over. We need as much help as possible.”

Tunbridge Wells seemed to be more wary of the pitch than Shildon in the opening stages of the game, and the home fans amused themselves by singing “Stand up if you forked the pitch.”.

Shildon’s main threat was down their right in the first half, and they nearly broke through when the nippy Sam Garvie got away from a Chris Hunter pass into the area, but as he checked on to his left foot to give himself a better angle, the ball got stuck between his feet and his weak effort went straight at the keeper, Chris Oladogba.

Hunter popped up at the other end on his own goalline, clearing the ball after Keith Finch was beaten by John Pilbeam’s low effort.

But it was the visitors, cheered on by over 100 of their own fans in a crowd of 1,754, who looked more likely to score either side of the interval.

Another Garvie effort from a good Danny Richmond run was saved one-handed by the keeper, then Hunter, one of the men of the match, was denied again by the keeper.

In the second half, Mark Hudson fired straight at the keeper, then Jamie Owens put a clear header wide from a Michael Tait corner.

Another effort by Jamie Owens was blocked after Ben Wood got round the back of the defence, before Hunter got another off the line at the other end.

But Shildon’s poor killer instinct cost them dear in a mad five minute spell. Hunter tried to play the ball across field instead of playing it short, and the ball was intercepted and played up the right for Pilbeam to put into the middle for Andy Irvine to control and knock past Finch.

A few minutes later, Carl Cornell worked his way into the Shildon box from the left, and after he evaded one challenge, was needlessly upended by a sliding tackle by Richard Flynn, and the ref pointed to the spot, from where Pilbeam scored the second, much to Shildon’s frustration. There were loud celebrations from the home fans at the final whistle, but Tunbridge Wells manager Martin Larkin said: “We’ve got nothing to celebrate, there’s only game gone, there’s another one to go.”