Jesmond AFC 1–0 Aigburth FC: the 88th minute

Opinion

Jesmond AFC have a peculiar way of making ninety minutes feel like a lifetime. For eighty-seven minutes on Friday 28 August, the match against Aigburth FC was a sterile affair. It was the kind of game that suggests the players are merely occupying space. It lacked a certain pulse (and several ideas).

Then came Carlo Bacigalupo. In the 88th minute, he managed to find the net and ensure Jesmond took the three points. It was a goal that arrived just as the crowd had begun to consider the logistics of the car park. Aigburth will likely spend the next few hours wondering where the game went, while Jesmond will celebrate as if they have discovered fire.

It is a precarious way to live. Relying on a late surge is a bit like trusting a cheap umbrella in a gale: it works until it doesn't. Still, a win is a win, even if it arrives with the frantic energy of a man trying to catch the last train.

Elsewhere, Marlborough United took another step toward the title with a win over Wednesbury Athletic. Stepney FC also kept pace at the top. But those are tidy, planned victories. Jesmond’s win was messy and late, which is why it feels more honest.

The hope is that Bacigalupo can find his target slightly earlier next time. It would be a kindness to the spectators, to be fair. One cannot spend an entire season waiting for the 88th minute without developing a permanent twitch. We go again.