Southend United have returned to League One after five years away thanks to a 7-6 penalty-shootout victory over Wycombe Wanderers at Wembley in the playoff final.
Shrimpers keeper Daniel Bentley scored an unfortunate own goal five minutes into extra time which looked to have promoted Wycombe, but Joe Pigott's remarkable equaliser in the 122nd minute sent the match to penalties and Bentley proved to be the hero in the shootout.
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Two and a half hours earlier, there had been a bizarre start to the final at the national stadium as Wycombe lost Brentford loanee Sam Saunders to injury in the opening moments of the game.
The midfielder was given the ball from kickoff and suffered a match-ending calf injury after just two seconds following a challenge by the eager Southend players. He tried to run the injury off, but could not put any weight on his leg and had to be replaced by Matt Bloomfield.
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After the false start to the game, chances were few and far between in the first half.
Southend centre-back Cian Bolger had the clearest opportunity, but he could only head narrowly wide from an outswinging David Worrall corner.
The Shrimpers did have the ball in the net midway through the opening period, but Barry Corr's header was chalked off because of a shove by Bolger.
Moments later at the other end, Wycombe then thought that they had scored a fortunate own goal, but captain Paul Hayes was flagged offside in the build-up.
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The remainder of the first period went by with little goalmouth action, but it was a fast start to the second half as Wycombe winger Hogan Ephraim saw a shot deflected wide inside the first minute.
Southend's top scorer Corr could have put the Shrimpers in front in the 63rd minute, but his header was straight at Wycombe back-up keeper Alex Lynch, standing in for the injured Matt Ingram.
Five minutes later, the Essex club felt that they should have been awarded a penalty when Corr was barged to the ground by Joe Jacobson, but referee Simon Hooper ignored the claims to their dismay.
Legs were beginning to tire as the match entered the final 15 minutes of normal time and it began to open up. Adam Barrett and substitute Pigott had openings for Southend, while Hayes squandered a decent opening for the Chairboys.
The best chance of the closing stages of normal time fell to Aaron Pierre, whose powerful header in the 88th minute was instinctively tipped over by Southend keeper Bentley.
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After 90 minutes of scoreless football, what appeared to be the winning goal arrived five minutes into the extra period as Jacobson curled a near-perfect free kick over the wall and onto the underside of the crossbar.
The ball bounced down before the line and would have stayed out of the net had it not spun up and grazed Bentley's back on its way over the line.
Southend's weary players struggled to create much in the final 25 minutes of the extra period until the last minute of injury time, when Pigott sent the game to penalties in sensational fashion.
Substitute Myles Weston burst down the left and his cross was nodded down by Corr for strike partner Pigott, who controlled a low left-footed shot into the far corner to send the Shrimpers fans wild.
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In the shootout, Southend's Ben Coker was the first to miss to give the advantage to Wanderers, but Bloomfield then saw Wycombe's fourth penalty kept out by Bentley.
Sudden death was required to separate the two and, after five more spot kicks had been put away, Sam Wood failed to find the net, meaning that Wycombe will play in League Two for a fourth straight season next term.
Pascal Lemesre
