2015 Conference Premier play-off Final

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.

2015 Conference Premier play-off Final
Wembley Stadium, venue for the match
Event2014–15 Football Conference
Bristol Rovers Grimsby Town
1 1
Bristol Rovers won 5–3 on penalties
Date17 May 2015
VenueWembley Stadium, London
RefereeRoss Joyce
Attendance47,029

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
Main article: 2014–15 Football Conference § Conference Premier
Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts
2Bristol Rovers 46251657334+3991
3Grimsby Town 462511107440+3486
4Eastleigh 462410128761+2682
5Forest 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  17'
Harrison  65'  77'		 Attendance: 3,336
Referee: Lee Swabey
30 April 2015 (2015-04-30) Eastleigh 1 – 2 Grimsby Town Ten Acres, Eastleigh
19:45 Odubade  62' Report Arnold  3', 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  24'
Taylor  88'		 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  35', 71'
John-Lewis  44'		 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  29' Report John-Lewis  2'
Penalties
Lines
Taylor
Brown
Balanta
Mansell 		5–3 Disley
John-Lewis
Pittman
Clay
Attendance: 47,029
Referee: Ross Joyce
Bristol Rovers
Grimsby Town
GK25Will Puddy 18' 120+1'
RB4Tom Lockyer
CB5Mark McChrystal (c)
CB6Tom Parkes
LB3Lee Brown
RM11Jake Gosling 75'
CM14Chris Lines
CM7Lee Mansell
LM23Andy Monkhouse
ST10Matty Taylor 35'
ST17Ellis Harrison 80'
Substitutes:
GK1Steve Mildenhall 120+1'
DF2Daniel Leadbitter
MF8Ollie Clarke
MF29Ángelo Balanta 75'
FW27Nathan Blissett 80'
Manager:
Darrell Clarke
GK1James McKeown
RB6Carl Magnay 41'
CB22Aristote Nsiala
CB5Shaun Pearson
LB35Gregor Robertson 74'
RM7Jack Mackreth
CM8Craig Disley (c)
CM4Scott Brown 87' 99'
LM20Nathan Arnold
ST14Lenell John-Lewis
ST33Ollie Palmer 70'
Substitutes:
DF19Daniel Parslow 74'
MF16Craig Clay 99'
MF34Christian Jolley
FW10Ross Hannah
FW18Jon-Paul Pittman 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.

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. https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/32679757
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