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Harrogate Town 3 : 1 Notts County
Harrogate Town will play in the Football League for the first time after a superb display at Wembley.
Goals from George Thomas, Connor Hall, and Jack Diamond floored a shellshocked County side who only showed their true potential in flashes.
The opener came in five minutes. The ball was placed in from the right by the outstanding Ryan Fallowfield and George Thomson deflects it beautifully past a diving Sam Slocombe in the County goal.
As County froze, it was nearly 2-0 just there minutes later. Aaron Martin was agonisingly clean through for Town and somehow missed the target with Slocombe doing well to stay large.
Jack Muldoon was the next Town player to beat the Notts defence but he astonishingly volleyed over. The second was nor far away.
Fallowfield shone again when Joel Bagan was forced into a foul to stop his mazy run. Bagan was booked, but there was worse punishment to follow. Thomson’s free kick floated over everyone but at the far post, Connor Halls’s foot was outstretched and he redirected the ball home for a 2-0 lead.
It could and should have been 3-0 before half time. Martin seemed to have rounded Slocombe but hit the post from four yards.
Could the two sides heading to Wembley be any more different?
County had only one first half effort of note when Kristian Dennis effort was deflected wide by Town’s outstanding player, Ryan Fallowfield.
Within a minute of the restart, Callum Roberts curled in a lovely free kick to bring County back into the match.
A Magpies barrage followed and they had five shots in five minutes.
The first from Roberts went over before Kyle Wootton won a corner for Notts after forcing Belshaw into a bit of a spill at his left hand post.
Mitch Rose had County’s third effort inside 200 seconds but it was a bit wayward and over.
County’s Dutch substitute Enzio Boldewijn fired wide soon after.
Finally, Roberts was unable to repeat his earlier free kick and fired over.
Harrogate survived that onslaught and Thomas could have extended their lead on 65 but missed a sitter with perhaps the ball coming on to him too quickly.
But their crowning moment was just five minutes away and what a Wembley moment it was.
Substitute Jon Stead fed Muldoon who beat the offside trap superbly to go haring down the Harrogate right.
With Muldoon supplying a perfect cross, Diamond nipped in front of a defender and converted in almost a copy cat of the first goal, James Belshaw preserved that two goal lead with a point blank save seconds later to deny Wootton and that was County’s last roar.
Stead had time to hit the post though 4-1 might have been a bit cruel on the Magpies.
Thereafter, Harrogate never looked in trouble and the men who took the field in yellow made history for the North Yorkshire town famous for conferences and holidays, and now football.
Harrogate: Belshaw, Fallowfield, Falkingham, Burrell, Thomson, Kerry, Muldoon (Beck 86′), Hall, Smith, Diamond, Martin (Stead 63′)
Notts County: Slocombe; Rose, Turner, O’Brien (Thomas 45′), Doyle, Dennis (Boldewijn 45′), Wootton, Brindley (Kelly-Evans 86′), Lacey, Bagan, Roberts
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