The 2004 Football Conference play-off final took place on 16 May 2004 and was contested between Aldershot Town and Shrewsbury Town. It was held at the Britannia Stadium, Stoke-on-Trent. A crowd of 19,216 attended the game (a conference play-off final record at the time), with just over 12,000 travelling from Shropshire.
Match
Summary Aldershot had the first real chance of the game when Roscoe Dsane got on the end of a ball over the top of the defence and held off Shrews captain Darren Tinson, only to drag his shot wide. Jon Challinor then had a chance but failed to connect properly with Aaron McLean's cutback. At the other end it took a crucial intervention from Dominic Sterling to deny Jamie Tolley after a good surging run from the midfielder.
Aldershot took the lead in the 36th minute when Shots captain Ray Warburton headed on a free kick and McLean powered the ball into the net. However Shrewsbury were level just minutes later, with Duane Darby smashing in an almost identical goal. In the second half the Shropshire side should have taken the lead when Luke Rodgers crossed for Ryan Lowe, who blazed over from inside the area.
With the scores level at 1–1, silver goal extra time was required, and Lee Charles had a couple of chances to win it for the Shots. Ultimately the match needed a penalty shoot-out to be settled. After Rodgers had missed Shrewsbury's first kick, goalkeeper Scott Howie was the hero, saving all three of Aldershot's penalties while teammates Tolley, Jake Sedgemore and finally Trevor Challis scored theirs to send Shrewsbury back into the Football League.
Details
GK 1 Nikki BullDF 16Simon Downer DF 6 Dominic Sterling DF 5 Ray Warburton (c)DF 37Will AntwiMF 8 Chris GilesMF 18Jamie GoslingMF 19Jon ChallinorMF 26Adam MillerFW 10Roscoe Dsane FW 11Aaron McLean Substitutes:GK 22Richard BarnardDF 3 Jason ChewinsDF 2 Dean Hooper FW 23Lee Charles FW 9 Tim Sills Manager:Terry Brown GK 25Scott HowieDF 15Trevor ChallisDF 5 Darren Tinson (c) DF 6 David Ridler MF 8 Jake SedgemoreMF 11Sam AistonMF 12Martin O'Connor MF 4 Jamie TolleyFW 17Ryan Lowe FW 18Duane Darby FW 9 Luke RodgersSubstitutes:GK 30Joe HartDF 27Lee Lawrence MF 21David EdwardsMF 29Kevin Street FW 10Colin Cramb Manager:Jimmy Quinn
Match rules: 90 minutes. 30 minutes of silver-goal extra time if necessary. Penalty shoot-out if scores still level. Five named substitutes Maximum of three substitutions.
References