2005 Football League Two play-off final
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Date | 28 May 2005 | ||||||
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Venue | Millennium Stadium, Cardiff | ||||||
Referee | Martin Atkinson (Yorkshire) | ||||||
Attendance | 19,653 | ||||||
The 2005 Football League Two play-off Final was an
The match was refereed by Martin Atkinson in front of 19,653 spectators. The first 90 minutes finished goalless, and was described by Jamie Jackson in The Observer as "tepid, uninventive fare", so the game went into extra time. The first goal was scored just before half-time in the first period of extra time, when Spencer Prior flicked on Nicky Nicolau's corner and Freddy Eastwood struck Matt Bloomer's clearance into the Lincoln goal. With ten minutes of extra time remaining, Eastwood ran at the Lincoln defence and passed the ball square to Duncan Jupp who scored his first league goal in a decade to give Southend a 2–0 lead. No further goals were scored, securing Southend a 2–0 win and promotion to League One.
Lincoln City ended their following season in seventh position in League Two and qualified for the play-offs where they lost 3–1 on aggregate to Grimsby Town in the semi-final. Southend United secured back-to-back promotions when they finished the following season as champions of League One.
Route to the final
Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts |
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1 | Yeovil Town | 46 | 25 | 8 | 13 | 90 | 65 | +25 | 83 |
2 | Scunthorpe United | 46 | 22 | 14 | 10 | 69 | 42 | +27 | 80 |
3 | Swansea City | 46 | 24 | 8 | 14 | 62 | 43 | +19 | 80 |
4 | Southend United | 46 | 22 | 12 | 12 | 65 | 46 | +19 | 78 |
5 | Macclesfield Town | 46 | 22 | 9 | 15 | 60 | 49 | +11 | 75 |
6 | Lincoln City | 46 | 20 | 12 | 14 | 64 | 47 | +17 | 72 |
7 | Northampton Town | 46 | 20 | 12 | 14 | 62 | 51 | +11 | 72 |
Southend United finished the regular 2004–05 season in fourth place in Football League Two, the fourth tier of the English football league system, two places ahead of Lincoln City. Both therefore missed out on the three automatic places for promotion to Football League One and instead took part in the play-offs to determine the fourth promoted team. Southend United finished two points behind Swansea City and Scunthorpe United (who were promoted in third and second place respectively, the latter having superior goal difference) and five behind league winners Yeovil Town. Lincoln City ended the season six points behind Southend United.[1]
Lincoln City's opposition for their play-off semi-final was
Southend United faced Northampton Town in the second semi-final with the first leg hosted at Sixfields Stadium in Northampton on 15 May 2005. Both sides had chances to score and although the visitors were more dominant, the match ended 0–0.[4] The second leg took place six days later at Roots Hall in Southend-on-Sea. The first half ended 0–0 but four minutes into the second, Nicky Nicolau was fouled in the Northampton penalty area and Freddy Eastwood converted the resulting penalty. It gave Southend a 1–0 victory both in the match and on aggregate, and they qualified for the final.[5]
Match
Background
It was Southend United's first appearance in the play-offs. They had played in the third tier of English football since they were relegated at the end of the
The referee for the match was Martin Atkinson from Yorkshire.[12] Southend adopted a 4–4–2 formation and Lincoln played as a 3–4–3.[13]
Summary
The match kicked off around 3 p.m. on 28 May 2005 at the Millennium Stadium in Cardiff in front of 19,653 spectators.[12] The match was an even affair during the first half: early on, Francis Green's header for Lincoln was off-target, and the team then saw a goal from Yeo ruled out. Southend had two goal-bound chances cleared as the Lincoln goalkeeper Alan Marriott saved shots from both Carl Pettefer and Mark Bentley. Southend dominated the second half, with Eastwood creating the best chance in the 56th minute but falling over the ball with only Marriott to beat from around 8 yards (7.3 metres).[14] Green then blocked a shot from Southend's Che Wilson before Bentley was denied a penalty after Paul Morgan appeared to foul him.[15] Regular time ended goalless, sending the match into extra time.[16] Jamie Jackson, writing in The Observer, described the first 90 minutes of the match as "tepid, uninventive fare".[14] The first goal was scored just before half-time in the first period of extra time. Spencer Prior flicked on Nicolau's corner and Eastwood struck Matt Bloomer's clearance into the Lincoln goal to make it 1–0. With ten minutes of extra time remaining, Eastwood ran at the Lincoln defence and passed the ball square to Duncan Jupp who scored his first league goal in a decade to give Southend a 2–0 lead.[16] With no further additions to the scoreline, the match ended 2–0 and Southend secured promotion to League One.[14]
Details
Southend United | 2–0 | Lincoln City |
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Eastwood 105' Jupp 110' |
[15] |
Southend United
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Lincoln City
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Post-match
Steve Tilson, the winning manager, praised his side's resilience: "After not getting automatic promotion, to bounce back and win today was a great achievement ... I thought we were worthy winners in the end."[17] His counterpart Keith Alexander suggested that his team needed to be improved: "We have to go out and get a better team ... I've got to get better players and we have to go up from the top three."[18]
Lincoln City ended their following season in seventh position in League Two and qualified for the play-offs where they lost 3–1 on aggregate to Grimsby Town in the semi-final.[19][20] Southend United finished the following season as champions of League One, securing back-to-back promotions, to participate in the Championship for the 2006–07 season.[21]
References
- ^ a b "League Two – 2004/2005 – Regular season". Soccerway. Perform Group. Archived from the original on 19 August 2016. Retrieved 9 March 2021.
- ^ "Lincoln 1–0 Macclesfield". BBC Sport. 14 May 2005. Archived from the original on 18 March 2021. Retrieved 10 March 2021.
- ^ "Macc'field 1–1 Lincoln (agg 1–2)". BBC Sport. 21 May 2005. Archived from the original on 18 March 2021. Retrieved 10 March 2021.
- ^ "Northampton 0–0 Southend". BBC Sport. 15 May 2005. Archived from the original on 18 March 2021. Retrieved 10 March 2021.
- ^ "Southend 1–0 N'hampton (agg 1–0)". BBC Sport. 21 May 2005. Archived from the original on 18 March 2021. Retrieved 10 March 2021.
- ^ "Southend United". Football Club History Database. Archived from the original on 10 August 2020. Retrieved 10 March 2021.
- ^ Lloyd, Grahame (11 April 2005). "Wrexham see silver lining in first prize". The Guardian. Archived from the original on 6 April 2017. Retrieved 10 March 2021.
- ^ "Lincoln City". Football Club History Database. Archived from the original on 3 August 2020. Retrieved 10 March 2021.
- ^ "Southend United football club: record v Lincoln City". 11v11. AFS Enterprises. Archived from the original on 22 October 2020. Retrieved 10 March 2021.
- ^ "Lincoln squad details – 2004/05 – Player appearances". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Archived from the original on 18 March 2021. Retrieved 10 March 2021.
- ^ "Southend squad details – 2004/05 – Player appearances". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Archived from the original on 18 March 2021. Retrieved 10 March 2021.
- ^ a b "Lincoln City v Southend United, 28 May 2005". 11v11. AFS Enterprises. Archived from the original on 18 March 2021. Retrieved 9 March 2021.
- ^ Jacob, Gary (30 May 2005). "Eastwood's Star Rising". The Times. p. 112. Retrieved 10 March 2021 – via Gale.
- ^ a b c Jackson, Jamie (29 May 2005). "Tilson tastes glory at third attempt". The Observer. p. 7. Archived from the original on 18 March 2021. Retrieved 10 March 2021 – via Gale.
- ^ a b "Lincoln City 0–2 Southend United". BBC Sport. 28 May 2005. Retrieved 10 March 2021.
- ^ a b Haylett, Trevor (30 May 2005). "Eastwood hangs Lincoln high". The Daily Telegraph. Archived from the original on 18 March 2021. Retrieved 10 March 2021 – via Gale.
- ^ "Tilson hails spirited performance". BBC Sport. 28 May 2005. Archived from the original on 18 March 2021. Retrieved 10 March 2021.
- ^ "Alexander plans Lincoln changes". BBC Sport. 28 May 2005. Retrieved 10 March 2021.
- ^ "Grimsby 2–1 Lincoln (agg 3–1)". BBC Sport. 16 May 2006. Retrieved 10 March 2021.
- ^ "League Two – 2005/2006 – Regular season". Soccerway. Perform Group. Archived from the original on 15 February 2019. Retrieved 10 March 2021.
- ^ "League One – 2005/2006 – Regular season". Soccerway. Perform Group. Archived from the original on 18 February 2021. Retrieved 10 March 2021.