2015 Conference Premier play-off final

2015 Conference Premier play-off final

Wembley Stadium, venue for the match
Event	2014–15 Football Conference
Bristol Rovers Grimsby Town 1 1
Bristol Rovers won 5–3 on penalties
Date	17 May 2015
Venue	Wembley Stadium, London
Referee	Ross Joyce
Attendance	47,029
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The 2015 Conference Premier play-off final, known as the 2015 Vanarama Conference Promotion Final for sponsorship reasons, was a football match between Bristol Rovers and Grimsby Town played on 17 May 2015 at Wembley Stadium in London. It was the thirteenth Conference Premier play-off final, the eighth to be played at Wembley and the first to feature either side.

The two participants finished the regular season in 2nd and 3rd respectively to qualify for the play-offs. Bristol Rovers overcame local rivals Forest Green Rovers 3–0 over two legs while Grimsby Town disposed of Eastleigh 5–1.

Bristol Rovers won the match 5–3 on penalties following a 1–1 draw after extra time. Rovers therefore became the first club since Carlisle United in 2005 to secure an immediate return to the Football League, ^[1] after their relegation on the last day of the previous season. For Grimsby Town, it was the third successive season that they had failed to win promotion via the play-offs and were condemned to a sixth straight season in the fifth tier. The attendance of 47,029 was a record for a Conference Premier match, ^[2] beating the previous best of 42,669 when Oxford United defeated York City to win promotion at the same venue in 2010.

Route to the final

Main article: 2014–15 Football Conference § Conference Premier

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts
2	Bristol Rovers	46	25	16	5	73	34	+39	91
3	Grimsby Town	46	25	11	10	74	40	+34	86
4	Eastleigh	46	24	10	12	87	61	+26	82
5	Forest Green Rovers	46	22	16	8	80	54	+26	79 [a]

1. Forest Green Rovers were deducted three points for fielding an ineligible player in their win over Southport on 9 August 2014.

Semi-finals

First leg

Forest Green Rovers v Bristol Rovers

29 April 2015 (2015-04-29)	Forest Green Rovers	0 – 1	Bristol Rovers	The New Lawn, Nailsworth
19:45		Report	Taylor 17' Harrison  65'  77'	Attendance: 3,336 Referee: Lee Swabey

Eastleigh v Grimsby Town

30 April 2015 (2015-04-30)	Eastleigh	1 – 2	Grimsby Town	Ten Acres, Eastleigh
19:45	Odubade 62'	Report	Arnold 3', 72'	Attendance: 3,251 Referee: Simon Bennett

Second leg

Bristol Rovers v Forest Green Rovers

3 May 2015 (2015-05-03)	Bristol Rovers	2 – 0 (3 – 0 agg.)	Forest Green Rovers	Memorial Stadium, Bristol
12:45	Lines 24' Taylor 88'	Report		Attendance: 10,563 Referee: Darren England

Grimsby Town v Eastleigh

3 May 2015 (2015-05-03)	Grimsby Town	3 – 0 (5 – 1 agg.)	Eastleigh	Blundell Park, Cleethorpes
15:30	Palmer 35', 71' John-Lewis 44'	Report		Attendance: 6,286 Referee: Ben Toner

Match

Summary

Grimsby Town got off to the perfect start when a purposeful run from Nathan Arnold set up Lenell John-Lewis to shoot from inside the penalty area. His shot was saved by Bristol Rovers goalkeeper Will Puddy but it deflected off John-Lewis' face into the goal, giving the Mariners the lead after just 1:38. Grimsby kept up the pressure and were unfortunate not to be playing against ten men as Puddy handled Ollie Palmer's shot outside the area. However, referee Ross Joyce deemed the offence only worthy of a yellow card. Just over 10 minutes later and Rovers were level after Grimsby failed to deal with a Jake Gosling corner, leaving Ellis Harrison to drive the ball past James McKeown.

The second half proved a much less open affair as players tired, defenders came out on top and errors were few and far between. Extra time was much the same, as chances for Chris Lines for Rovers and John-Lewis for Grimsby came to nothing. In the last minute of the extra time, Rovers manager Darrell Clarke switched Puddy for substitute keeper Steve Mildenhall for the inevitable penalty shoot-out, in a move reminiscent of that by Dutch coach Louis van Gaal at the previous year's World Cup. ^[3] Clarke later stated that he felt Mildenhall would have "a better chance with his bigger frame." ^[3]

The first five penalties of the shoot-out were successfully converted before Jon-Paul Pittman blazed his over the bar in front of the Grimsby fans. The following two were also successful, leaving veteran Lee Mansell with the deciding spot kick, which he powered in to McKeown's left.

Details

17 May 2015 (2015-05-17)

14:00 BST

Bristol Rovers	1–1 (a.e.t.)	Grimsby Town
Harrison 29'	Report	John-Lewis 2'
Penalties
Lines Taylor Brown Balanta Mansell	5–3	Disley John-Lewis Pittman Clay

Wembley Stadium, London

Attendance: 47,029

Referee: Ross Joyce

Bristol Rovers

Grimsby Town

GK 25 Will Puddy  18'  120+1' RB 4 Tom Lockyer CB 5 Mark McChrystal (c) CB 6 Tom Parkes LB 3 Lee Brown RM 11 Jake Gosling  75' CM 14 Chris Lines CM 7 Lee Mansell LM 23 Andy Monkhouse ST 10 Matty Taylor  35' ST 17 Ellis Harrison  80' Substitutes: GK 1 Steve Mildenhall  120+1' DF 2 Daniel Leadbitter MF 8 Ollie Clarke MF 29 Ángelo Balanta  75' FW 27 Nathan Blissett  80' Manager: Darrell Clarke

GK 1 James McKeown RB 6 Carl Magnay  41' CB 22 Aristote Nsiala CB 5 Shaun Pearson LB 35 Gregor Robertson  74' RM 7 Jack Mackreth CM 8 Craig Disley (c) CM 4 Scott Brown  87'  99' LM 20 Nathan Arnold ST 14 Lenell John-Lewis ST 33 Ollie Palmer  70' Substitutes: DF 19 Daniel Parslow  74' MF 16 Craig Clay  99' MF 34 Christian Jolley FW 10 Ross Hannah FW 18 Jon-Paul Pittman  70' Manager: Paul Hurst

Match officials: Assistant referees: Paul Johnson Joe Johnson Fourth official: Martin Coy

Match rules: 90 minutes. 30 minutes of extra time if necessary. Penalty shoot-out if scores still level. Five named substitutes. Maximum of three substitutions.

References

1. "Bristol Rovers 1–1 Grimsby". BBC Sport. 17 May 2015. Retrieved 17 May 2015.
2. "Record Crowd See Rovers Return". Football Conference. 17 May 2015. Archived from the original on 20 May 2015. Retrieved 17 May 2015.
3. "Bristol Rovers 1-1 Grimsby (5-3 pens)". BBC Sport.