Paullow

Nearly a year to the day, 30th April last year was when Liverpool were 3-0 up, Spurs brought it back to 3-3, only to lose with the last kick of the game. We'll have been a lot more invested in that one.

You don't get much closer than that from Bromley, off the post and rolled back along the line. Still 2-2, about 5 mins to a shootout.

2-2, cracking equaliser by the Solihull-born captain. Think I'll watch this one to the end over the Liverpool match.

Bromley back in front against Soihull in the National final on TNT Sports. Solihull fannying on at the back, striker nips in, penna. 2-1.

Penna to Brighton.

2-0 Chelsea.

I'd snap your hand off that for that now. It would be our 10th PL top 6 finish, completing a unique set of finishing 2nd, 2nd, 3rd, 3rd, 4th, 4th, 5th, 5th, 6th, 6th, guaranteed European football, and having a brother who supports Man Utd, finally finishing above them in the PL era (and my time) would be nice. Crazy that we have had 4 top 3 finishes, and runner up twice, but never finished above them. Of course, Europa would be preferable, but I'd say there's just as much chance we finish 7th or 8th than 6th, could easily miss out on Europe altogether, and this would signal a strong end to the season.

'Effectively' only really works when the advantage is like 3 or 6 points and that's when the extra 'point' comes into play as it will take an extra game for a team to pass. If Chelsea finish above Man Utd then 7th might not be enough. We'd be favourites to make the Conference League for sure, but it would be a bit of a nervy watch on the 25th hoping that Man City do what's expected of them, and we have been burned in the past of an underdog winning the FA Cup and denying us a place in Europe. The current top 6 odds look favourable:

So this will be how steps 1-4 look next year, depending on whether you count the 3 North Yorkshire sides as local. National Gateshead (and York) National North South Shields Spennymoor Darlington (and Scarborough) NPL Premier Blyth Morpeth Hebburn Stockton (and Whitby) NPL Div One East Dunston Newton Aycliffe Consett Ashington Bishop Auckland Heaton Stan or West Auckland (play off final on Monday) Possibly missed someone, but good to see more representation, and a few new derbies / local matches. I've been to Spennymoor before and went to South Shields vs Spennymoor this year, so might look to make one or two matches next year, and get to a few new grounds, like maybe Darlington vs Spennymoor, Morpeth vs Blyth, Bishop Auckand vs potentially West Auckland, although not wanting to annoy those on here with that one

It is a shame for Dunston, and I was hoping they would have gone up with them being closer to home, but at least it is another County Durham team going up the leagues, and judging by the size of the town, and the crowds they get, they would likely be able to make more of a fist of it than Dunston in the higher level, and potentially look to push on to the National North. They have made the playoff final 3 years in a row - they lost to Marske in 21/22, and then Long Eaton on pens last year after finishing 2nd, and they obviously just missed out by a point this year after leading for a long time. 23/24 22/23 21/22

Stockton equalised with the last kick of normal time to make it 3-3. Dunston went back in front, but Stockton have just equalised again. 4-4 with 10 mins of extra time to go.

Dunston currently 3-1 up away at Stockton in the NPL second tier playoff final. Looking set to join Blyth, Morpeth and Hebburn in the first tier of that league next year.

The league was never in their hands though. Think the best they had was 3 clear with Bishops having 2 games in hand, but aye, a disappointing end for them. Mind, they did struggle last season in the NPL, so perhaps they'd rather just remain in this league for now, although no idea of their intentions, ambitions, or how the match played out last night.

Yeah, I think similar, but in that scenario Southampton would be guaranteed to stay down another season, whereas if Leeds got top 2, there would be a great chance that all 3 parachute teams who got relegated last season would come straight back up.

Yeah, me too, and while it will be nice to see Ipswich back in the PL (most under 30 won't have seen them in the top flight, or certainly remember them), and I have enjoyed watching them for most parts when they have been on Sky this season, one of the main reasons I want them up is for this reason in bold. If Ipswich miss out on promotion and then finish 16th next season, not many will be too surprised, Luton could easily finish bottom half as well if they were to drop, but Leeds should be in and around as you say next season, and I'd like as many strong looking sides as possible in there next season to make it harder for Sunderland to come up. At the minute it's looking grim for the Mackems, and more likely to struggle next season than be in the mix, but a decent managerial appointment, a sale of one of their better players for £20m and reinvesting it wisely, and they might have a chance, so I'm kind of hoping both Leeds and Southampton miss out on promotion, and Ipswich going up would ensure at least one of them misses out.

It's pretty much 16/1 across the board for Leeds to 'finish in top 2', but if you do a double at SkyBet, you can get almost 18/1. £1 returns £18.86.

A point at home to almost certainly relegated Huddersfield to get promoted - you'd have taken that! Most Huddersfield fans won't be wanting their team to win

Another stoppage here, so could easily go to the 104th minute. Most neutrals will want Ipswich up I would have thought, 'dirty Leeds' and all that, but for a team like Coventry who got to the playoff final last year, and the FA Cup semi final this year, and will look to push on further next season, it will generally be better for them if a parachute team like Leeds were out of the mix next season.

4 mins into 11 mins added time at Coventry vs Ipswich. Still 1-2.

Won 2-0, and so did Stockton, so it's Stockton vs Dunston in the final and another NE team in the NPL Premier Division next season, so good news for Blyth, Morpeth, and Hebburn. Morpeth were pretty much on their own this season, bar Whitby at an absolute push, but they have 3 new local, intriguing fixtures to look forward to next season. There is a direct train from Hexham to Stockton, but nothing like as convenient as to Dunston, so don't think I'll look to go (if there even was a chance to get in).

2-1 Ipswich. They have been good since Cov equalised. See it out FFS.

Fuck sake, 1-1. I don't have much faith in Ipswich. They've had a superb season, but they always seem so vulnerable. Went ahead 3 times the other day, but couldn't see it out. A draw would still be fine, bit I was hoping they would have held out for more than 2 mins from that previous post.

Coventry have been the better team since the goal, but Ipswuch could have gone 2-0 up there (hit the bar). Fine margins. A draw would still be an ok result for them, but hopefully they see it out.

Huddersfield are on the brink of relegation, like 99.99% certain. On Championship Manager you could probably cheat to keep them up by 'Adding New Managers', but realistically they are gone as they need a 16 goal swing with Plymouth on the final day. What do you think would be the biggest swing needed where some fans would have doubts in their mind? like say an 8 goal swing where one wins 4-0 and one loses 4-0. They haven't got an (R) next to their name, but seeing as it's only Ipswich or Leeds who can finish 2nd, I'd imagine many Huddersfield fans would happily see their side lose Ipswich on Saturday if it meant the playoffs for Leeds.

Goal for Ipswich. VAR has its place, but its a much better watch when you know it can't be ruled out if it wasn't instantly disallowed. Ipswich would have been sweating there.