2016 Football League Two play-off final

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2016 Football League Two play-off final
Wembley-Stadion 2013.jpg
The match took place at Wembley Stadium.
Event 2015–16 Football League Two
Date30 May 2016
Venue Wembley Stadium, London
Referee Iain Williamson
Attendance57,956
2015
2017

The 2016 Football League Two play-off final was an association football match played on 30 May 2016 at Wembley Stadium, London, between Plymouth Argyle and AFC Wimbledon. The match determined the fourth and final team to gain promotion from Football League Two, English football's fourth tier, to Football League One. The top three teams of the 2015–16 Football League Two season gained automatic promotion to League One, while those placed from fourth to seventh in the table took part in play-off semi-finals; the winners of these semi-finals competed for the final place for the 2016–17 season in League One. Plymouth Argyle finished in fifth place while Wimbledon ended the season in seventh position. Accrington Stanley and Portsmouth were the losing semi-finalists.

Contents

The final was played in front of 57,956 spectators and was refereed by Iain Williamson. The first half ended goalless, but in the 77th minute, substitute Adebayo Akinfenwa's first action was to help win a corner for Wimbledon, from which Lyle Taylor scored with a low shot past Luke McCormick. Ten minutes into stoppage time, Ade Azeez won a penalty which was scored by Akinfenwa to make it 2–0 which was the final score. It was Wimbledon's sixth promotion since the club's formation in 2002.

Wimbledon ended their following season in fifteenth place in the League One table, while Plymouth finished the next season in second position to gain automatic promotion to League One for the 2017–18 season.

Route to the final

Football League Two final table, leading positions [1]
PosTeamPldWDLGFGAGDPts
1 Northampton Town 46291258246+3699
2 Oxford United 46241488441+4386
3 Bristol Rovers 46267137746+3185
4 Accrington Stanley 46241397448+2685
5 Plymouth Argyle 46249137246+2681
6 Portsmouth 462115107544+3178
7 AFC Wimbledon 462112136450+1475

Plymouth Argyle finished the regular 2015–16 season in fifth place in Football League Two, the fourth tier of the English football league system, two positions ahead of AFC Wimbledon. 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. Plymouth Argyle finished four points behind Bristol Rovers (who were promoted in third place), five behind Oxford United (promoted in second) and eighteen behind league winners Northampton Town. Wimbledon ended the season two places and six points behind Plymouth Argyle. [1]

Wimbledon's opponents in their play-off semi-final were Accrington Stanley with the first match of the two-legged tie being played on 14 May 2016 at Kingsmeadow in Greater London. After a goalless first half in which no shots on target were made by either side, Tom Beere's low shot three minutes into injury time beat Neil Etheridge in the Accrington goal to ensure the match ended 1–0. [2] The second leg of the semi-final play-off took place four days later at the Crown Ground in Accrington. Josh Windass levelled the tie with a penalty six minutes before half-time after Scott Brown was fouled. Piero Mingoia then put Accrington ahead on aggregate with a strike in the 59th minute. Midway through the second half, a header from Adebayo Akinfenwa made it 2–1 and with no further change to the scoreline, the game went into extra time. Lyle Taylor then scored after Etheridge had saved an effort from Jake Reeves, and Wimbledon progressed to the final with a 3–2 aggregate victory. [3]

In the second play-off semi-final, Plymouth Argyle faced Portsmouth and the first leg was played at Fratton Park in Portsmouth on 12 May 2016. A strike from the edge of Plymouth's penalty area from Marc McNulty gave the home side a third-minute lead but Jamille Matt equalised six minutes later with a header. On 19 minutes, Matt put Plymouth ahead with an overhead kick. Six minutes after half-time, Peter Hartley fouled McNulty in the box, and Gary Roberts converted the subsequent penalty to make it 2–2. [4] The second leg was held at Home Park in Plymouth three days later. The home side dominated the game but did not score until injury time in the second half when Hartley converted Graham Carey's corner. The match ended 1–0 giving Plymouth a 3–2 aggregate win and progression to the play-off final at Wembley. [5]

Match

Background

Prior to the final, the teams had faced each other three times during the season. Plymouth had won the league match at Kingsmeadow in August 2015, followed by victory there in the EFL Trophy the following month. Wimbledon won the other league fixture between the sides, with a 2–1 victory in April 2016. [6] AFC Wimbledon fans were allocated the West End of Wembley, while Plymouth Argyle supporters were seated in the East End. [7] The referee for the match was Iain Williamson, assisted by Ron Ganfield and Paul Marsden. Tim Robinson was the fourth official and the reserve assistant referee was Tom Bramall. [7] The live match was broadcast on Sky Sports in the UK, with highlights of the match shown later on Channel 5. [7]

Wimbledon wore all-blue kit with yellow trim while Plymouth played in green-and-white striped shirts, green shorts and green-and-white socks. [8]

Summary

Adebayo Akinfenwa (pictured in 2015) scored a penalty for Wimbledon ten minutes into second-half injury time. Adebayo Akinfenwa 2015 (cropped).jpg
Adebayo Akinfenwa (pictured in 2015) scored a penalty for Wimbledon ten minutes into second-half injury time.

Plymouth Argyle kicked off the match at around 3 p.m. in front of 57,956 spectators. In the seventh minute, a header from a deep free-kick was flicked on by Taylor but his shot was saved, and soon after Carey's shot flew over the Wimbledon crossbar. Six minutes later, a Taylor shot was deflected out for a corner which was cleared to Reeves whose volley went wide of the Plymouth goal. [8] In the 25th minute, Kelvin Mellor almost scored an own goal after deflecting a Wimbledon cross but the ball went wide, and Plymouth cleared the subsequent corner. Five minutes before half-time, a long-range strike from Callum Kennedy was saved by Luke McCormick in the Plymouth goal. After a minute of injury time, the referee blew the whistle to bring the half to an end with the score goalless. [9]

The second half was kicked off by Wimbledon but the first chance fell to Plymouth on 47 minutes: a high cross intended for Jake Jervis was punched clear by Kelle Roos, the Wimbledon goalkeeper. Two minutes later, Carl McHugh's mis-hit pass almost beat his own goalkeeper but went wide for a corner. In the 56th minute, a shot from Andy Barcham was blocked before Tom Elliott headed over the bar from a Taylor cross. Gregg Wylde became the first player to be booked after being shown the yellow card for a foul on Wimbledon's Barry Fuller in the 63rd minute. Two minutes later, Carey's curling free kick from around 30 yards (27 m) was saved by Roos, then Darius Charles was booked for a foul on Matt. On 68 minutes, Plymouth made their first substitution of the afternoon with Jervis being replaced by Craig Tanner. Soon after, Jonathan Meades came on to replace Connor Smith for Wimbledon. [10] In the 77th minute, Elliott left the pitch to be replaced by Akinfenwa whose first action a minute later was to help win a corner for Wimbledon, from which Taylor scored with a low shot past McCormick. The Plymouth goalkeeper made another save four minutes later before Reid came on to replace Wylde in the 83rd minute. Hartley was then injured in a clash with Akinfenwa and was stretchered off the pitch, and replaced by Jordon Forster. In the 90th minute, McCormick tipped away Akinfenwa's header to keep the score at 1–0, and the game went into seven minutes of injury time. Tanner was brought down in the 95th minute but the referee ignored appeals for a penalty from Plymouth before Taylor's weak shot after a one-on-one with McCormick was easily saved by the goalkeeper. [11] Taylor was then replaced by Ade Azeez in Wimbledon's third substitution of the match. Ten minutes into stoppage time, Azeez won a penalty which was scored by Akinfenwa to make it 2–0 which was the final score. [12]

Details

AFC Wimbledon 2–0 Plymouth Argyle
Taylor Soccerball shade.svg78'
Akinfenwa Soccerball shade.svg90+10' (pen.)
Report
Wembley Stadium, London
Attendance: 57,956
Referee: Iain Williamson
Kit left arm thinyellowborder.png
Kit left arm.svg
Kit body 6thinyellowstripes.png
Kit body.svg
Kit right arm thinyellowborder.png
Kit right arm.svg
Kit shorts yellowbottom.png
Kit shorts.svg
Kit socks long.svg
AFC Wimbledon
Kit left arm plymouth1516h.png
Kit left arm.svg
Kit body plymouth1516h.png
Kit body.svg
Kit right arm plymouth1516h.png
Kit right arm.svg
Kit shorts plymouth1516h.png
Kit shorts.svg
Kit socks plymouth1516hl.png
Kit socks long.svg
Plymouth Argyle
GK29 Kelle Roos
RB2 Barry Fuller (c)
CB20 Ryan Sweeney
CB32 Darius Charles Yellow card.svg 67'
LB3 Callum Kennedy
RM18 Connor Smith Sub off.svg 69'
CM4 Dannie Bulman
CM8 Jake Reeves
LM17 Andy Barcham
CF9 Tom Elliott Sub off.svg 77'
CF33 Lyle Taylor Yellow card.svg 79'Sub off.svg 90+7'
Substitutes:
GK1 James Shea
DF6 Paul Robinson
DF12 Jonathan Meades Sub on.svg 69'
MF11 Sean Rigg
FW14 Ade Azeez Sub on.svg 90+7'
FW39 Rhys Murphy
FW10 Adebayo Akinfenwa Yellow card.svg 90+11'Sub on.svg 77'
Manager:
Neal Ardley
GK23 Luke McCormick
RB2 Kelvin Mellor
CB5 Curtis Nelson (c)
CB6 Peter Hartley Sub off.svg 86'
LB3 Gary Sawyer
DM4 Carl McHugh
DM20 Hiram Boateng
RW14 Jake Jervis Sub off.svg 68'
AM10 Graham Carey
LW11 Gregg Wylde Yellow card.svg 62'Sub off.svg 82'
CF19 Jamille Matt
Substitutes:
GK31 Vincent Dorel
DF28 Jordon Forster Sub on.svg 86'
DF16 Ben Purrington
MF32 Jordan Houghton
FW27 Craig Tanner Sub on.svg 68'
FW15 Tyler Harvey
FW9 Reuben Reid Sub on.svg 82'
Manager:
Derek Adams

Post match

The scorer of Wimbledon's second goal, Akinfenwa revealed shortly after the end of the game that he had been released and that he was looking for a new club. [13] It was Wimbledon's sixth promotion since the club's formation in 2002. [12]

Wimbledon ended their following season in fifteenth place in the League One table. [14] Plymouth finished the next season in second position in League Two to gain automatic promotion to League One for the 2017–18 season. [15]

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