So I receive a message during the week to say their is a free ticket going for the League Two playoff final at Wembley between Southend and Wycombe and with Southend being my place of residence it was a chance to good to miss. What's more the ticket was in a box at the famous stadium so it was a fantastic opportunity to take.
So I travelled up to the game with two other fellas (mate and his father) and park right next to the stadium. We eventually get into our box and it's awesome and the view of the pitch is outstanding. We all stuff our faces with a pre match meal of beef buritos and nachos washed down with a pint or two of Hobgoblin before taking our seats for the match.
The atmosphere was crackling and both sides entered the arena to a loud reception and plenty of razmatazz and we were ready to go.
Sadly the first half was fairly drab with barely any clear cut chances although The Blues felt they should of had a first half lead when Corr headed home an early free kick but saw the referee rule the goal out for a push on a defender by Bolger. Still this was the only highlight of a poor first half in all honestly so we retired to our box for a swig of ale and a chat about how the half had gone whilst watching the sky sports analysis of the game so far.
So the second half and both Corr and veteran defender Adam Barrett spurned headed second-half chances for the Shrimpers as they looked to take control. The game was still struggling to hit any heights though and you always felt one goal would settle it. Wycombe's Paul Hayes was then fed in by Aaron Holloway but Southend keeper Bentley denied the forward, saving his low strike to his left. Southend then should have had a penalty when Corr was shoved in the back by Jacobson for what looked a stonewall penalty but the referee somehow didn't see this much to the dismay of us.
Bentley then pulled off a remarkable stop to deny Aaron Pierre's late headed effort as the tie went to an extra 30 minutes. We all groaned at the thought as the tense atmosphere in the stadium would continue. Five minutes into extra time disaster struck as the Bucks side took a vital lead. Michael Timlin fouled Holloway on the edge of the box and Jacobson stood over the ball and as my mate shouted 'hit the wall' he curled a free-kick over that wall and it seemed to be going over but dipped and came of the underside of the bar and bounced off the surface and then hit the unfortunate Bentley in the back and then went in off the bar and over the line.
Despair amongst us Blues followers as Wycombe celebrated the lead and we all felt this could be the winning goal as we just could not see how Southend would score as it was one of those days it seemed. Southend pressed hard but kept falling short of the mark and their attacking approach almost backfired when Wycombe's Holloway went on a mazy run and broke through several tackles but his run was stopped by a despairing but fantastic last ditch tackle from Coker, who almost certainly prevented the Blues from going 2-0 behind.
The minutes ticked by and as we entered stoppage time at the end of extra time the Wycombe half of Wembley started to celebrate what they thought was a hard fought win and promotion winning performance and to be honest we all thought it was over too. But with barely 30 seconds of extra time to go Myles Weston played a ball into the box from the left which saw Corr head down for Pigott, on loan from Charlton, control the ball onto his left foot and then struck into the far corner to send the Southend half of Wembley into raptures.
It really was hard to describe the amazing feeling you felt when that goal went in and it was pandemonium all around!!! Fantastic, but we now had a penalty shoot out to endure. After both sides scored their opening penalties Southend's Coker saw his poor penalty saved by the legs of Lynch and it was advantage Wycombe and despair amongst us yet again. The next four penalties were scored and then Wycombe's Bloomfield then saw Bentley save his kick meaning it was 3-3 with one penalty to go each.
Both spot kicks were then scored and so at 4-4 it was sudden death. To say it was tense would be an understatement of epic proportions but Southend kept edging in front only for Wycombe to hold their nerve to. Bolger then sent the Blues 7-6 ahead and it was left to Wood to try and hold his nerve to take the shootout further but Bentley tipped his kick onto the post and Southend had won promotion to League One.
Cue scenes of celebration and disbelief as we were seconds away from defeat and now we were the ones celebrating the victory overall. We must of experienced every single emotion possible today but its a great feeling at the end of the day. What a day and what a dramatic finish it was. Football hey, don't you just love it!!!
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