2015 Conference Premier play-off final

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2015 Conference Premier play-off final
Wembley Stadium during London 2012 Olympic Games.JPG
Wembley Stadium, venue for the match
Event 2014–15 Football Conference
Bristol Rovers Grimsby Town
11
Bristol Rovers won 5–3 on penalties
Date17 May 2015
Venue Wembley Stadium, London
Referee Ross Joyce
Attendance47,029
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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.

Contents

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

Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts
2 Bristol Rovers 46251657334+3991
3 Grimsby Town 462511107440+3486
4 Eastleigh 462410128761+2682
5 Forest Green Rovers 46221688054+2679 [lower-alpha 1]
  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
29 April 2015 (2015-04-29) Forest Green Rovers 0 – 1 Bristol Rovers The New Lawn, Nailsworth
19:45 Report Taylor Soccerball shade.svg17'
Harrison Yellow card.svg 65' Yellow-red card.svg 77'		Attendance: 3,336
Referee: Lee Swabey
30 April 2015 (2015-04-30) Eastleigh 1 – 2 Grimsby Town Ten Acres, Eastleigh
19:45 Odubade Soccerball shade.svg62' Report Arnold Soccerball shade.svg3', 72'Attendance: 3,251
Referee: Simon Bennett
Second leg
3 May 2015 (2015-05-03) Bristol Rovers 2 – 0
(3 – 0 agg.)		 Forest Green Rovers Memorial Stadium, Bristol
12:45 Lines Soccerball shade.svg24'
Taylor Soccerball shade.svg88'		 Report Attendance: 10,563
Referee: Darren England
3 May 2015 (2015-05-03) Grimsby Town 3 – 0
(5 – 1 agg.)		 Eastleigh Blundell Park, Cleethorpes
15:30 Palmer Soccerball shade.svg35', 71'
John-Lewis Soccerball shade.svg44'		 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

Bristol Rovers1–1 (a.e.t.) Grimsby Town
Harrison Soccerball shade.svg29' Report John-Lewis Soccerball shade.svg2'
Penalties
Lines Soccerball shad check.svg
Taylor Soccerball shad check.svg
Brown Soccerball shad check.svg
Balanta Soccerball shad check.svg
Mansell Soccerball shad check.svg		5–3 Disley Soccerball shad check.svg
John-Lewis Soccerball shad check.svg
Pittman Soccerball shade cross.svg
Clay Soccerball shad check.svg
Wembley Stadium, London
Attendance: 47,029
Referee: Ross Joyce
Kit left arm blueborder.png
Kit left arm.svg
Kit body whitequarters23.png
Kit body.svg
Kit right arm whiteborder.png
Kit right arm.svg
Kit shorts white stripes.png
Kit shorts.svg
Kit socks long.svg
Bristol Rovers
Kit left arm blackborder.png
Kit left arm.svg
Kit body 3whitestripes.png
Kit body.svg
Kit right arm blackborder.png
Kit right arm.svg
Kit shorts white stripes.png
Kit shorts.svg
Kit socks long.svg
Grimsby Town
GK25 Will Puddy Yellow card.svg 18'Sub off.svg 120+1'
RB4 Tom Lockyer
CB5 Mark McChrystal (c)
CB6 Tom Parkes
LB3 Lee Brown
RM11 Jake Gosling Sub off.svg 75'
CM14 Chris Lines
CM7 Lee Mansell
LM23 Andy Monkhouse
ST10 Matty Taylor Yellow card.svg 35'
ST17 Ellis Harrison Sub off.svg 80'
Substitutes:
GK1 Steve Mildenhall Sub on.svg 120+1'
DF2 Daniel Leadbitter
MF8 Ollie Clarke
MF29 Ángelo Balanta Sub on.svg 75'
FW27 Nathan Blissett Sub on.svg 80'
Manager:
Darrell Clarke
GK1 James McKeown
RB6 Carl Magnay Yellow card.svg 41'
CB22 Aristote Nsiala
CB5 Shaun Pearson
LB35 Gregor Robertson Sub off.svg 74'
RM7 Jack Mackreth
CM8 Craig Disley (c)
CM4 Scott Brown Yellow card.svg 87'Sub off.svg 99'
LM20 Nathan Arnold
ST14 Lenell John-Lewis
ST33 Ollie Palmer Sub off.svg 70'
Substitutes:
DF19 Daniel Parslow Sub on.svg 74'
MF16 Craig Clay Sub on.svg 99'
MF34 Christian Jolley
FW10 Ross Hannah
FW18 Jon-Paul Pittman Sub on.svg 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.

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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. 1 2 "Bristol Rovers 1-1 Grimsby (5-3 pens)". BBC Sport.
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