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GAME DETAILS
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Conference
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Attendance: 47,029
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DT92 Members at this game: (you can click here to load your profile picture) |
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Hatter66
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Dursley Gooner
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gashead eric
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Bristol Rovers 1-1 Grimsby Town (Rovers win 5-3 on Penalties)
Attendance: 47,029
Bristol Rovers return to the Football League after a 5-3 penalties win against Grimsby Town at Wembley Stadium.
Lennell John-Lewis opened the scoring before Ellis Harrison drew the game level in the first half before Rovers netted all five of their penalties to secure the victory.
Darrell Clarke made one change to the side that eased past Forest Green Rovers at the Memorial Stadium recalling Ellis Harrison into the starting 11 after the young Welshman served his one game suspension.
Rovers got off to the worst possible start as Town top goal scorer Lenell John-Lewis capitalised on an early mix up in the Rovers penalty area to put Paul Hurst''s men a goal up.
Paul Hurst''s men continued to press and look the most dangerous with Rovers counter attacking when only 10 minutes into the game there was a clash between Matty Taylor and Grimsby keeper James McKeown resulting in both players receiving treatment.
John-Lewis was the Mariners main outlet and could have potentially doubled Grimsby''s lead had it not have been for a fantastic reaction save from Will Puddy at his near post.
From the resulting corner, Scott Brown whipped the ball into the penalty area and his cross was met by the head of Aristote Nsiala who thundered his header over the bar.
Rovers seemed to settle but Grimsby were still looking dangerous with long-range efforts from Nathan Arnold and Ollie Palmer both going close.
Darrell Clarke''s men formed their first real attack after solid work in the midfield by Lee Mansell. The ball was then worked out to the Rovers left where Andy Monkhouse drilled the ball low into the danger area only to see Nsiala clear over his own crossbar.
From that corner, there was pinball in the Town box before the ball fell to the feet of Ellis Harrison and the Welsh youngster hammered home his shot emphatically to draw the game level
Neither side really created a clear opportunity in the closing stages of the first half with Rovers have two free kicks which James McKeown dealt with well.
Paul Hurst''s men came out in the second half with the same intensity they showed in the first but a solid defensive effort kept the Mariners at bay in the opening ten minutes.
Both sides pressed well in what was a very high paced game but neither managed to create, the deadlock prompted Paul Hurst to change his options upfront, replacing Ollie Palmer with Jon-Paul Pittman with 20 minutes of normal time remaining.
Moments later Darrell Clarke made a change of his own bringing on Angelo Balanta to replace Jake Gosling.
Several minutes passed and the large pitch at Wembley seemed to be taking it''s toll on a few players out there. One of which being Rovers goal scorer Ellis Harrison who after going down clutching his lower legs was replaced by Nathan Blissett.
Both sides played out the final 15 minutes with the only real opportunity of note coming deep into injury time as Lennell John-Lewis lashed the ball across the Rovers six-yard area but no-one was there to apply the vital touch.
This meant that the game went into Extra Time in front of what was a record breaking attendance for the Conference of 47,029.
With almost ten minutes on Extra Time gone Paul Hurst made his final change of the game bringing on Craig Clay in place of Scott Brown for a set of fresh legs in the middle of the park.
Neither side wanted to give an inch with players on both sides beginning to tire and with just over ten minutes of Extra Time remaining Rovers were awarded a free kick after Shaun Pearson handled under heavy pressure from Nathan Blissett.
Lee Mansell whipped the ball into the back post and his delivery was met by the head of Chris Lines but he couldn''t force a save out of McKeown.
In the dying minutes of Extra Time, Grimsby substitute Jon-Paul Pittman had a fantastic chance to win the game, after Craig Clay stepped Tom Lockyer on the edge of the area and played in Pittman. As he was falling Pittman pulled the trigger beating Puddy but Tom Parkes was there to clear the ball off the line.
With just one minute to play, Darrell Clarke made a bold move replacing Will Puddy with Steve Mildenhall with penalties looming.
The whistle blew for Full Time and after a flip of a coin between the two captains, the penalties were taken in front of the Grimsby supporters with Rovers to take the first penalty.
PENALTIES
Chris Lines - Scored Craig Disley - Scored 1-1
Matty Taylor - Scored Lennell John-Lewis - Scored 2-2
Lee Brown - Scored Jon-Paul Pittman - Missed 3-2
Angelo Balanta - Scored Craig Clay - Scored 4-3
Lee Mansell - Scored
Lee Mansell''s winning penalty meant that Rovers bounced back to the Football League at the first time of asking!
Rovers: Puddy (Mildenhall - 119): Lockyer, McChrystal (C), Parkes, Brown: Gosling (Balanta - 75), Mansell, Lines, Monkhouse: Taylor, Harrison (Blissett - 80).
Unused Substitutes: Leadbitter, Clarke.
Grimsby: McKeown, Brown (Clay - 98), Pearson, Magnay, Mackreth, Disley (C), John-Lewis, Arnold, Nsiala, Palmer (Pittman - 70), Robertson (Parslow - 74).
Unused Substitutes: Hannah, Jolley. Gaurdian match report
Bristol Rovers promoted to League Two after beating Grimsby on penalties
• Bristol Rovers 1-1 Grimsby Town (Bristol Rovers win 5-3 on pens)
• Rovers bounce straight back to Football League
Bristol Rovers players celebrating at the end of their match against Grimsby Town
Bristol Rovers players celebrating at the end of their match against Grimsby Town at Wembley Stadium. Photograph: JMP/Rex Shutterstock
John Ashdown at Wembley
Sunday 17 May 2015 17.56 BST
Darrell Clarke ended the season in tears last May having seen his Bristol Rovers side lose their league status for the first time in 94 years. This time round his campaign climaxed with a 60-yard sprint across the Wembley turf to celebrate their return at the first time of asking thanks to a penalty shootout victory over Grimsby. “Showed a yard of pace this year, didn’t I?” he said. “Nearly pulled a hamstring.”
In immediately bouncing back into League Two Rovers became the first side since Carlisle United 10 years ago to do so. “I was hurting last summer,” said Clarke, whose side had missed out on automatic promotion by a point after recovering from a slow start to non-league life.
“It was difficult to deal with. It affected me badly, I don’t mind saying. There were some dark, dark nights. The disappointment was massive. To rebuild a club that had hit rock bottom is fantastic.”
They got over the line the hard way here, falling behind to Grimsby after only 100 seconds, somehow surviving Town’s blistering start without further damage to the scoreline – or their numbers after the goalkeeper Will Puddy handled outside the area – equalising before the half hour and then grinding their way to penalties from half-time onwards.
The Bristol Rovers manager then opted to do a Louis van Gaal for the shootout, replacing Puddy with the experienced Steve Mildenhall in the final seconds of extra-time. “It was spur of the moment,” he said. “I just thought: ‘You know what? I’m going to do it.” But there was no need for any repeat of Tim Krul’s World Cup heroics for Holland against Costa Rica. Jon-Paul Pittman blazed Grimsby’s third penalty over the bar and Rovers’ Lee Mansell held his nerve in front of a Conference record crowd of 47,029 to slot home the final kick.
“It’s an extremely cruel way to lose,” said the Mariners manager Paul Hurst. “You could not meet a nicer guy than Jon-Paul Pittman. He apologised when we went into the dressing room but he hasn’t got anything to apologise for.”
It could all have been very different. Grimsby were ahead inside two minutes, Lenell John-Lewis forcing the ball over the line from close range. Given that Rovers began a high court battle with Sainsbury’s last week over a £30m deal to redevelop their Memorial Stadium it seemed quite apt that their day looked set to be ruined by a striker nicknamed “The Shop”.
Then came controversy, with Puddy making an ill-judged charge from his area and stopping Ollie Palmer’s effort with a hand. The referee, Ross Joyce, generously produced only a yellow card when a red seemed appropriate. “I felt like he wanted to keep 11 v 11 on the pitch,” said Hurst. “But a sending off is a sending off. You have to be brave and make that decision.”
Clarke concurred – “Luckily for us, and it makes a pleasant change, the football gods were smiling on us” – and his side made the most of the reprieve by getting back on level terms on the half hour. A corner sparked a scramble from which Ellis Harrison thrashed the ball home from close range.
By half-time it could have been 10 against nine and 4-3 rather than 11 v 11 and 1-1. Ten minutes before the interval the Rovers striker Matty Taylor streaked through after an horrendous error from Shaun Pearson and went down in the box under James McKeown’s challenge. There appeared to have been the lightest of touches from the goalkeeper but Joyce opted to book the striker rather than award the penalty and produce a red. Even then it might have been Taylor’s second booking after he had escaped unpunished from an earlier fracas.
It was just as well that 120 minutes worth of action had been crammed into a hugely entertaining first 45 – tension triumphed over technique from then onwards. Rovers, who settled into the contest after their equaliser, shaded the second period while Grimsby perhaps had the better of extra-time but in truth penalties looked likely from the hour mark onwards.
In extra time both midfields left their forwards to attack on their own, unwilling or, more likely by that stage, unable to get up in support and the most intriguing moment of the added 30 minutes came just before the final whistle when Rovers made their goalkeeper switch. In the end, though, Mildenhall was not required to be the hero. Pittman launched the ball over the bar and Mansell sent Rovers back up.
Man of the match Chris Lines (Bristol Rovers)
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majgtfc
88 |
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Play off final - Bristol win 5-3 on penalties after extra time
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steveparker
87 |
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5-3 to Bristol Rovers on Pens
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Conway5
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5-3 Pens
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rh5319
80 |
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chris young
51 |
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paulgas
42 |
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Ticket
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tote end tugboat
39 |
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Conference playoff final, Rovers won 5-4 on penalties!
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bigken69
28 |
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DanNorman94
25 |
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mrrudd
0 |
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lucianasmithson
0 |
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