CITY 1-1 Crewe  Swann 102 AET McKearney (P) 119 Attendance: 22,416  City win 5-3 on penalties

CITY: Kiely, McMillan, Hall, Pepper, Stancliffe (Tutill 108), Atkin, McCarthy, Canham, Barnes, Swann, Blackstone. Sub (not used): Borthwick.
Booked: McMillan 62 (foul), Pepper 95 (foul).

Crewe: M Smith, McKearney, S Smith, Evans, Carr, Whalley, Ward, Naylor, Lennon, Walters (Clarkson 104), Edwards (Woodward 70).
Booked: None.

Referee: Allan Gunn (South Chailey, Sussex).

Shots on target: CITY 10, Crewe 5.
Corners: CITY 8, Crewe 12.

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York City wrote another memorable chapter into their history as they returned to the Second Division, after a five year exile, by beating Crewe in one of the most dramatic play-off matches ever. The breath-taking game saw a rollercoaster ride to glory for City as they defeated Third Division form team Crewe on penalties to send the massive 11,000 City following, who outnumbered and out-sang the Crewe following, wild.

For both sets of supporters the dream of a day out at Wembley was realised after City beat Bury in the semi-finals whilst Crewe battered Walsall but City saw their supreme fourth place Third Division finish rewarded with a fantastic performance at Wembley which was unthinkable twelve months previously as City finished fourth from bottom of the old Fourth Division.

The players emerged looking as cool as ever, lead by captain and 'Clubman of the Year' Paul Stancliffe and the game started at a predictably frantic pace which saw Crewe go close after only a matter of seconds as Dean Kiely and Stancliffe hesitated and Dave McKearney nipped in to lob the ball over the bar from an acute angle. That was to be the ever reliable pairing's only error in the entirety of the famous afternoon.

City soon got on top and began to dominate the game with some of their best play of the season with Jon McCarthy and Paul Barnes twisting the Crewe defence inside out whilst at the back, City were as solid as ever with Stancliffe and Paul Atkin winning everything in the air. The first shot on target from either side came after just three minutes as McCarthy picked up on a weak goalkeeping clearance and ghosted past lanky defender Stewart Evans before seeing his weak shot saved by Smith. Crewe produced a similar effort minutes later as Neil Lennon kept Kiely on his toes with a weak low strike from distance.

On the left flank, Tony Canham was proving equally tricky as he and McCarthy ran rings round the Crewe full-backs but Mark Smith, who had only played a small handful of games for Crewe all season, was in inspired form as he was forced to deal with cross after cross from City's wide men. After 10 minutes, McCarthy's diagonal ball caused panic in the Crewe defence and Ian Blackstone got in a firm header which was comfortably saved by Smith.

Then followed a good spell of Crewe pressure after Dario Gradi replaced Rob Edwards with Andrew Woodward and City were forced to defend in numbers but held out, surviving the occasional scare - the most major being when danger man Tony Naylor found the ball at his feet only a couple of yards from goal but despite putting the ball in the net, his celebrations were short lived as he spotted the linesman's flag, ruling that Naylor had strayed into an offside position. Both sets of players had clearly tired and the hard working Paul Barnes was struggling with cramp but battled on as Crewe again went close through Naylor as his low near post drive from inside the area brought a brilliant save out of Kiely. But then in the final second of the game, City could have so easily won the game as Jon McCarthy broke away, racing 50 yards and beating two defenders before finding himself inside the area and with a great scoring chance but he planted the ball high and over the bar.

Many thought that City's best chance had gone but doubters were to be proved wrong as City spurned a great chance before taking the lead. First Blackstone shot straight at Smith when it seemed certain he would score as he found himself unmarked at the far post with only the keeper to beat but that glaring miss was soon forgotten as Andy McMillan found Barnes who turned brilliantly to create the chance for Swann who raced in to slot past Smith and send the vociferous City contingent into raptures as he celebrated only his second goal of the campaign - the other being the play-off semi-final winner at home to Bury. That looked to be enough for City as Crewe players were clearly drained by that set-back on the brink of the end of the first period of extra-time.

The second period of extra-time saw City resist all Crewe pressure and victory looked a certainty until only a minute from time when City substitute Steve Tutill inexplicably handled a McKearney corner to give Crewe the chance to equalise from the spot. Dave McKearney despatched the kick past Kiely's outstretched right arm and it seemed City had been robbed of a fully deserved promotion as the game went to a penalty shoot-out with the momentum on Crewe's side on the back of that equaliser.

City already knew who would be taking their penalties after a couple of days intensive work on penalty-taking and it paid off. Jon McCarthy was the first City player to step up and score from the spot with a typically cool low finish. Dave McKearney cancelled out City's advantage before Paul Barnes stepped up to send a firm drive straight down the middle and into the Crewe net. Once again Crewe cancelled out City's advantage as Shaun Smith fired home before Tony Canham stepped up to slot his penalty brilliantly inside the right hand post. Then a chap appropriately named 'Whalley' stepped up and his penalty, driven straight down the middle, was brilliantly saved by Kiely. City increased their advantage to 4-2 following Whalley's miss when Nigel Pepper coolly slotted home his penalty and despite Ashley Ward converting from the spot, City were all set for Second Division football as Wayne Hall stepped up and fired home from the spot to send City fans into ecstasy. A fine season capped with promotion to the Second Division.