Sheffield Wednesday made English footballing history as they overturned a four-goal deficit to book their place in the League One play-off final.
The Owls’ season looked destined to reach a humiliating conclusion after they were humbled 4-0 by Peterborough in the first leg of their semi-final clash. However, spurred on by a fervent Hillsborough crowd, Wednesday won 5-1 after extra time before holding their nerve in a penalty shootout.
The odds were stacked against the hosts, with no side having ever recovered from four goals down in a two-legged play-off tie. And fans turned up with hope rather than expectation, despite racking up 19 more points than the Posh during the regular season.
Hopes of an historic comeback were raised in the opening stages however, when Michael Smith scored from the spot after just two minutes. Lee Gregory then made it two in the 25th minute with half of the job completed with 65 minutes to spare.
Peterborough dug their heels in with Reece James not making it three until shortly after the 70-minute mark. For all of their work, Wednesday looked destined to fall short until Liam Palmer levelled the tie up in the ninth minute of an injury-time period scheduled for only six.
The drama wasn’t over there though as Posh reestablished the lead in extra time, before Wednesday got on level terms again through Callum Paterson to set up penalties.
And the hosts went a perfect five from five in the shootout with Jack Hunt scoring the decisive spot-kick to spark wild scenes of celebration. Thousands of supporters spilled onto the pitch and eagle-eyed viewers spotted that one managed to knock the referee’s assistant to the ground. He was quickly helped to his feet as the Wednesday players were engulfed by ecstatic fans.
Wednesday skipper Barry Bannan described the game as the greatest he had ever played in and sent a message to the watching world who had already counted his side out.
He told Sky Sports: “Everybody wrote us off. But we know what we’ve got in that changing room. Everybody told us that we couldn’t do it, but that group of players are unbelievable.
“It was all about believing, we know that when we’ve got these fans behind us that anything is possible.”
He added: “It’s the greatest game I’ve ever been involved in. I’m just so happy, for all these lads…they deserve it, for this club - I said I was going to get them promoted.
“After last week everybody wrote us off and battered us from pillar to post, but we showed that we are made of strong stuff. We’re only halfway there, but that feels like winning it.”
Cameron Dawson, Wednesday’s keeper paid tribute to boss Darren Moore for his support during a turbulent period: “He’s been great for us. We finished on a record high points and didn’t go up automatically and he picked us up. And then after the Peterborough game he picked us up again to get us out there to play like that.”
Wednesday will discover their Wembley opponents on Friday night when Barnsley take on Bolton at Oakwell. That tie is somewhat more balanced going into the deciding 90 minutes with the scores locked at 1-1.
