Stockport County sealed their passage to Wembley as they beat Stevenage 3-0 on aggregate to reach the League One play-off final.
Leading 1-0 from the first leg of their semi-final, Stockport took no time at all to assert their dominance in the second, with a 2-0 win at Edgeley Park.
Louie Barry opened the scoring early, then Kyle Wootton forced in a second off the head of Stevenage defender Carl Piergianni before the break.
It means they have gone one better than last season under Dave Challinor, when they crashed out at the semi-final stage of the play-offs.
Stockport get the job done early at Edgeley Park
Stockport players celebrate Kyle Wootton (right) helping them take a 2-0 lead on the night over Stevenage
There were 14 minutes on the clock when the opening goal went in, as Ben Osborn – the scorer of the bizarre sole goal on Saturday – teed up Barry, who showed his quality in firing a brilliant finish past Filip Marschall.
Just before the half hour Stockport got another. Wootton has been playing in defence lately, but showed his attacking instincts have gone nowhere as his acrobatic effort was steered into the top corner by the head of Piergianni.
And that was more than enough for Stockport to ease into the final. They have lost once at Wembley this season, just a few weeks ago in the Vertu Trophy final.
They will be hoping that doesn’t happen again when they face Bradford or Bolton on May 24.
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Louie Barry scores the opening goal against Stevenage to put Stockport 2-0 up on aggregate
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Carl Piergianni’s head from Kyle Wootton’s shot helps Stockport go 3-0 up on aggregate!
Challinor: Last year’s play-off hurt drove us on
Stockport boss Dave Challinor told Sky Sports that last season’s exit in the play-off semi-finals drove his side on this season.
“It certainly hurt me,” he said. “I’ve been involved in lots of play-off games, winning and losing. It was a real tough one to take.
“It’s helped all year and there’s been plenty of adversity alongside that. To react in the manner we did and get into this situation was a massive effort from the boys.
“It was an amazing night. We’ve got ourselves into a one-off game to get into the Championship, which is brilliant.
“Although the goal on Saturday made a difference, we wanted to start really positively tonight and we did that. To get the two goals in the first half settles us down and gives us something to hold onto.”
‘An incredible job from Challinor’
Steve Evans on Sky Sports:
“It’s been an incredible job from Dave Challinor. He came in when they were at a low point and it was a brave decision by the owner to bring him in from Hartlepool.
“He’s a club legend from playing here, but to come here and re-galvanise them, especially after last year, you see the quality of the performance tonight.”
Revell gutted but proud of Stevenage season
Stevenage boss Alex Revell on Sky Sports:
“I’m gutted for the group and everybody that travelled tonight. First half we allowed them to play their game at home and the atmosphere grew.
“We conceded two poor goals from our point of view. Second half, I saw a team that showed our standards and levels of what we expect.
“We’re extremely proud of what we’ve achieved this year. Obviously everyone’s gutted because we were so close to Wembley. But Stockport were in our position this time last year and we have to use that as motivation for next season to make sure that’s us.”
