AFC Wimbledon secured their place in the League Two play-off final as they defeated Notts County 2-0 on aggregate.
An early strike by Josh Neufville gave the south London side a 1-0 second-leg victory at the Cherry Red Records Stadium.
The Dons will face Walsall at Wembley on Monday, May 26 for a place in League One.
With veteran striker David McGoldrick ruled out because of injury, and Alassana Jatta missing through suspension after being dismissed in the first leg, Notts County manager Stuart Maynard was forced to make changes with Mai Traore coming in to lead the attack.
AFC Wimbledon took their first step to Wembley after just eight minutes. Neufville controlled the ball on the left hand side of the area, and was able to lob keeper Alex Bass standing off his line, to put the hosts two goals up on aggregate.
Needing an early response to get themselves back in the tie, Notts County started pressing the resolute home defence. However, the Dons repelled the pressure on their back line in the Plough Lane sunshine.
The hosts had the perfect chance to wrap proceedings up ten minutes after the restart. Matty Stevens fed Marcus Browne, but his effort was heroically blocked by Lewis Macari.
Browne himself was testing the energy of the Notts County back line, using his pace to excellent effect.
In their first real effort of the contest, Notts County tested Owen Goodman, when a Jodi Jones shot from outside the area was palmed away by the Crystal Palace loanee.
Stevens looked set to put the tie beyond any doubt on 69 minutes, when he found space in the area from a deep James Tilley cross. However, Bass denied him with an excellent one-handed save to turn his effort around the post.
Wimbledon kept searching for the second goal of the afternoon, with Tilley testing Bass again on 72 minutes with a long-range effort.
Perhaps needing some extra energy for the closing stages, the hosts subbed Stevens and Myles Hippolyte for Aron Sasu and Callum Maycock respectively.
To their credit, Notts County kept pressing for any opening they could carve out, but the home side continued to stay firm.
Sasu shot straight at Bass late on, and the celebrations at full-time were the result of a well-earned trip to Wembley.
Airdrieonians secured their place in the Scottish Championship for another season as they beat Cove Rangers 2-1 on aggregate in their play-off final after a 0-0 second-leg draw at Excelsior Stadium.The early stages saw Lewis McGrattan bring a good save out of Cove goalkeeper Nicholas Suman, before counterpart Cade Melrose did well at the other end as he blocked Adam Emslie’s shot with his fo...
Eberechi Eze’s 16th-minute goal fired Crystal Palace to the first major trophy in their history as they secured a 1-0 FA Cup victory over Manchester City at Wembley.Eze put Palace ahead with their first attack of the match before an inspired Dean Henderson saved Omar Marmoush’s penalty.However, Henderson could count himself fortunate to still be on the pitch after he earlier appeared t...
East Kilbride won promotion to Scottish League Two for the first time and sent Bonnyrigg Rose down after a 0-0 draw at New Dundas Park saw the visitors triumph 3-1 on aggregate.Bonnyrigg goalkeeper Paddy Martin did well to keep out a Joao Balde strike in the 24th minute, before Aaron Arnott fired over at the other end.Kerr Young was unable to make the most of two chances for the hosts midway throu...
Jim Goodwin paid tribute to his dogged Dundee United side following the 2-1 comeback win over Aberdeen which clinched fourth place and a European spot.The Terrors, who returned to the William Hill Premiership this season, had lost their four post-split matches going into the final fixture against the Dons, who were two points ahead and looking in fine fettle when Danish attacker Jeppe Okkels score...
Barry Ferguson was left infuriated by one of the worst decisions he has ever seen and called for the introduction of goal-line technology after Rangers were on the wrong end of a pivotal first-half call in their season-concluding 2-2 draw away to Hibernian.With Gers leading through an early Cyriel Dessers strike, Nico Raskin looked to have put them two ahead in the 15th minute but Hibs defender Ro...
AFC Wimbledon manager Johnnie Jackson believes the toughness of his side has driven them to the League Two play-off final after they defeated Notts County 1-0 at Plough Lane.An early strike by Josh Neufville gave the Dons a 2-0 aggregate victory that was as deserved as it was hard-earned.The South London outfit have not let in a goal in the last three games, and further demonstrated why their defe...
Dundee United clinched a European place after leapfrogging Aberdeen into fourth place in the William Hill Premiership with a stunning 2-1 comeback win.Danish attacker Jeppe Okkels scored his first goal for the Dons since signing on loan from Preston in January after 15 minutes with the visitors controlling the game.United gradually came back into it and in the 56th minute defender Declan Gallagher...
Rangers were left to lament a contentious first-half moment as they ended a largely dispiriting William Hill Premiership campaign with a 2-2 draw away to Hibernian.Second-placed Gers went ahead early on through top scorer Cyriel Dessers and felt they should have doubled their lead in the 15th minute when Nico Raskin looked to have forced the ball over the line. However, play was waved on and Hibs ...
James Forrest gave Celtic fans the finale they craved as he equalised in stoppage time against St Mirren to extend his run of scoring for the club to 16 consecutive seasons.Forrest left it until the league season was 38 games old to get off the mark on a day when he was chosen to deliver the William Hill Premiership trophy to his team-mates ahead of Callum McGregor lifting it for the fourth year r...
David Martindale believes the pressure is off his Livingston side after they booked their place in the Premiership play-off final with a comfortable victory over Partick Thistle.The Lions progressed 4-0 on aggregate, securing a second 2-0 win with Jamie Brandon’s opener added to by Stevie May’s stunning half-volley.They will now face either Dundee or Ross County over two legs, with the...
- 1 Richie Wellens hails Leyton Orient’s ‘outstanding’ victory over Stockport
- 2 Man Utd are losing the feeling of being a massive club – Ruben Amorim
- 3 We will see – no Unai Emery assurances over future of tearful Emiliano Martinez
- 4 Leyton Orient book Wembley date by beating Stockport on penalties
- 5 Brendan Rodgers hits out at ‘needless challenge’ on Reo Hatate
- 6 Mat Sadler hails Walsall’s ‘fighting performance’ after win in play-off first leg
- 7 David Gray thanks Hibernian board for showing faith in him after securing third
- 8 Airdrieonians earn first-leg lead over Cove in play-offs
- 9 Flick lauds Yamal, as Barca nears title
- 10 Arsenal offer £135k deal to seduce target