The npower League Two Play-Off Final (Saturday, May 28th at Old Trafford)
Stevenage 1 Torquay United 0 (Attendance: 11,484)
(Mousinho 41)
The Theatre of Dreams; well it was for Boro anyway!
That's Torquay boss Paul Buckle more than likely off to Bristol Rovers then as the pantomime villians of Stevenage have games against Preston and both Sheffield clubs to look forward next season, as well as the odd game within the M25.
Only a couple of seasons ago these two were playing each other in the Blue Square Premier, but it's the club from Hertfordshire who are celebrating their second successive promotion up north.
John Mousinho: Mobbed after hitting the winner
Boro, who won promotion into the Football League for the first time in their short history just 12 months earlier, can now look forward to the next campaign in the third tier of English football thanks to John Mousinho's cracking winning goal four minutes before half-time.
Mousinho's powerful 20-yarder proved enough to settle a scrappy affair played in blustery conditions, despite an improved second-half showing from Torquay.
The Gulls barely threatened in the first half and could have few complaints at heading into the interval a goal down.
However, Stevenage were largely on the back foot thereafter and Torquay came close to grabbing an equaliser with 15 minutes remaining when Jake Robinson's shot grazed the crossbar.
Mousinho returned from suspension to take his place in Stevenage's midfield, with Darren Murphy dropping to the bench as a result. Centre-half Jon Ashton, who had been a major doubt for the game due to a calf injury, was named among the substitutes.
Torquay manager Paul Buckle named the same XI that started both legs of their semi-final victory over Shrewsbury.
After kick-off had been delayed by 15 minutes due to traffic congestion, it was Stevenage who enjoyed the better of the opening period.
Craig Reid saw a goalbound effort blocked by Guy Branston in the fourth minute after good work down the left from Darius Charles.
The hard-working Charles then got the better of Branston on the opposite flank and cut the ball back to Mousinho, although his right-footed shot failed to seriously trouble Torquay goalkeeper Scott Bevan.
Winger Robinson represented the Gulls' biggest threat early on and saw two crosses cleared from promising positions.
However, it was Stevenage who continued to look the most likely to make a breakthrough and Charles fired narrowly over in the 27th minute after Bevan had flapped at a cross from Lawrie Wilson.
Billy Kee then went close for Torquay with an ambitious long-range effort, before Charles threatened again as his header from Stacy Long's cross bounced into the ground and over the bar.
With four minutes of the first half remaining, Stevenage claimed a deserved lead as Mousinho surged towards the edge of the box before drilling a powerful shot across Bevan and into the bottom-left corner.
However, Torquay came close to an immediate leveller when Branston headed wide from a corner and they went on to pose much more of a threat in the second half.
Kee forced Chris Day into a sharp save at his near post and Chris Zebroski fired into the side netting after a rare mistake from Stevenage skipper Mark Roberts.
Borough substitute Darren Murphy then missed a wonderful chance to double his side's lead as he failed to connect cleanly with a free header from Long's left-wing corner, before the lively Robinson struck the bar for Torquay with Day beaten.
The Gulls threw men forward in desperation as the final whistle approached and Branston should have done better when volleying high and wide after his initial effort had been blocked.
Stevenage held on with relative comfort in the closing moments for a famous victory.
Graham Westley: Hails 'fantastic feeling'
Boro boss Graham Westley hailed a "sensational achievement" from his Stevenage side after they gained promotion into League One.
Westley said: "It's a fantastic feeling. A league championship is special, but when you win a play-off final it is great. Any Saturday when you win a game, whether it's three points or a promotion, it feels fantastic but it was doubled, trebled and quadrupled out there today. I've never underestimated the players that I've got, but we always knew it was going to be a tall order to win promotion this year and it's a massive credit to them. To be at a small club with small resources and push on into League One is a sensational achievement. They were 18th in January so it shows just what a big leap it was. The players have kept their confidence, they have kept their work ethic, togetherness and spirit and they have gone on to show what those things can give you."
Stevenage thoroughly deserved their half-time lead, but had to withstand heavy pressure after the interval as Torquay rallied.
Westley added: "To coin a cliche, it was very much a game of two halves. I thought we had by far the better of the first half, the better of the chances and I thought we deserved to go in ahead. But in the second half, you have to say they worked the ball very well and made it really difficult for us. There was some fantastic defending to dig us out of several holes they got us into."
Westley has twice suffered play-off defeats as a manager and expressed sympathy for opposite number Paul Buckle.
He explained: "You choke for him really, because the play-offs are brilliant for football, they give so many people so many opportunities, but they are horrible when you are on the receiving end. This is the third time I've been in them and the first time I've managed to win. They are brilliant and they are heartbreaking and of course I feel for him. His side were outstanding in that second half today and they've had a tremendous season."
Torquay boss Buckle felt his side were unfortunate to suffer defeat after their improved second-half display.
Buckle said: "Taking nothing away from Stevenage - and first of all I must congratulate them as the winners today - I honestly thought we were the better team. I think we created the better chances, we are normally a lot more efficient in front of goal than we were today, but I can't blame the players for that. I thought we played well, but you need a bit of luck. We kept creating chances we hit the bar, we were on top, we stretched them time and time again, but we couldn't get through and sometimes that happens."
Buckle also confirmed he will make a decision on Monday regarding his future at the club, having been heavily linked with the vacancy at Bristol Rovers.
He continued: "I've not made my mind up whether I'm going to stay at Torquay or leave. I think it would be wrong for me to say either way at the moment. I'm going to have a meeting now with the chairman and the board of directors, it was always planned for that to happen tonight, because this game came first. It might be the right time for me to move, or to stay. I don't know. I've got to let myself calm down a bit and then I'll make the right decision."
Highlights of the match:
http://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/b011rd0d/
The_Football_League_Show_2010_2011_Episode_42/
How the game went:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/eng_div_3/9499548.stm