2015 Conference Premier play-off final

{{Infobox football match

| title = 2015 Conference Premier play-off final

| image = Wembley Stadium during London 2012 Olympic Games.JPG

| image_size = 250

| caption = Wembley Stadium, venue for the match

| event = 2014–15 Football Conference

| team1 = Bristol Rovers

| team1score = 1

| team2 = Grimsby Town

| team2score = 1

| details = Bristol Rovers won 5–3 on penalties

| date = 17 May 2015

| stadium = Wembley Stadium

| city = London

| man_of_the_match1a =

| referee = Ross Joyce

| attendance = 47,029

| previous = 2014

| next = 2016

}}

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.

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,{{cite news |title=Bristol Rovers 1–1 Grimsby |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/0/football/32679757 |publisher=BBC Sport |date=17 May 2015 |accessdate=17 May 2015}} 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,{{cite web |title=Record Crowd See Rovers Return |url=http://www.footballconference.co.uk/news/details.php?news_id=15168 |publisher=Football Conference |date=17 May 2015 |accessdate=17 May 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150520040614/http://www.footballconference.co.uk/news/details.php?news_id=15168 |archive-date=20 May 2015 |url-status=dead |df=dmy-all }} 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

class="wikitable" style="text-align:center" !width="30"\|{{Tooltip\| Pos \| Position}} !width="175"\|Team !width="30"\|{{Tooltip\| Pld \| Played}} !width="30"\|{{Tooltip\| W \| Won}} !width="30"\|{{Tooltip\| D \| Drawn}} !width="30"\|{{Tooltip\| L \| Lost}} !width="30"\|{{Tooltip\| GF \| Goals for}} !width="30"\|{{Tooltip\| GA \| Goals against}} !width="30"\|{{Tooltip\| GD \| Goal difference}} !width="30"\|{{Tooltip\| Pts \| Points}}
style="background:#addfad;" \|2	align=left\|Bristol Rovers \|46	25	16	5	73	34	+39	91
3	align=left\|Grimsby Town \|46	25	11	10	74	40	+34	86
4	align=left\|Eastleigh \|46	24	10	12	87	61	+26	82
5	align=left\|Forest Green Rovers \|46	22	16	8	80	54	+26	79{{Efn\|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

{{football box collapsible

|date = {{Start date|2015|04|29|df=y}}

|time = 19:45

|team1 = Forest Green Rovers

|score = 0 – 1

|report = [https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/0/football/32473543 Report]

|team2 = Bristol Rovers

|goals1 =

|goals2 = Taylor {{goal|17}}
Harrison {{sent off|2|65|77}}

|stadium = The New Lawn, Nailsworth

|attendance = 3,336

|referee = Lee Swabey

}}

{{football box collapsible

|date = {{Start date|2015|04|30|df=y}}

|time = 19:45

|team1 = Eastleigh

|score = 1 – 2

|report = [https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/0/football/32473544 Report]

|team2 = Grimsby Town

|goals1 = Odubade {{goal|62}}

|goals2 = Arnold {{goal|3||72}}

|stadium = Ten Acres, Eastleigh

|attendance = 3,251

|referee = Simon Bennett

}}

;Second leg

{{football box collapsible

|date = {{Start date|2015|05|03|df=y}}

|time = 12:45

|team1 = Bristol Rovers

|score = 2 – 0

|report = [https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/0/football/32473545 Report]

|team2 = Forest Green Rovers

|aggregatescore = 3 – 0

|goals1 = Lines {{goal|24}}
Taylor {{goal|88}}

|goals2 =

|stadium = Memorial Stadium, Bristol

|attendance = 10,563

|referee = Darren England

}}

{{football box collapsible

|date = {{Start date|2015|05|03|df=y}}

|time = 15:30

|team1 = Grimsby Town

|score = 3 – 0

|report = [https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/0/football/32473542 Report]

|team2 = Eastleigh

|aggregatescore = 5 – 1

|goals1 = Palmer {{goal|35||71}}
John-Lewis {{goal|44}}

|goals2 =

|stadium = Blundell Park, Cleethorpes

|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.{{Cite news|url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/32679757|title=Bristol Rovers 1-1 Grimsby (5-3 pens)|work=BBC Sport}} Clarke later stated that he felt Mildenhall would have "a better chance with his bigger frame."

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=

{{football box

|date = {{Start date|2015|05|17|df=y}}

|time = 14:00 BST

|team1 = Bristol Rovers

|score = 1–1

|aet = yes

|report = [https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/0/football/32679757 Report]

|team2 = Grimsby Town

|goals1 = Harrison {{goal|29}}

|goals2 = John-Lewis {{goal|2}}

|penalties1 = Lines {{pengoal}}
Taylor {{pengoal}}
Brown {{pengoal}}
Balanta {{pengoal}}
Mansell {{pengoal}}

|penaltyscore = 5–3

|penalties2 = Disley {{pengoal}}
John-Lewis {{pengoal}}
Pittman {{penmiss}}
Clay {{pengoal}}

|stadium = Wembley Stadium, London

|attendance = 47,029

|referee = Ross Joyce

}}

width=92%

{{Football kit

| pattern_la = _blueborder

| pattern_b = _whitequarters23

| pattern_ra = _whiteborder

| pattern_sh = _white stripes

| pattern_so =

| leftarm = FFFFFF

| body = 0000FF

| rightarm = 0000FF

| shorts = 0000FF

| socks = FFFFFF

|title = Bristol Rovers

}}

|{{Football kit

| pattern_la = _blackborder

| pattern_b =_3whitestripes

| pattern_ra =_blackborder

| pattern_sh =_white stripes

| leftarm = FFFFFF

| body =000000

| rightarm =FFFFFF

| shorts =000000

| socks =FF0000

|title = Grimsby Town

}}

width="25"\|	width="25"\|
style="width:100%;"
style="vertical-align:top; width:50%;"\| {\| style="font-size: 90%" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0"
GK	25	Will Puddy	{{yel\|18}}	{{suboff\|120+1}}
RB	4	Tom Lockyer
CB	5	Mark McChrystal (c)
CB	6	Tom Parkes
LB	3	Lee Brown
RM	11	Jake Gosling		{{suboff\|75}}
CM	14	Chris Lines
CM	7	Lee Mansell
LM	23	Andy Monkhouse
ST	10	Matty Taylor	{{yel\|35}}
ST	17	Ellis Harrison		{{suboff\|80}}
colspan=4\|Substitutes:
GK	1	Steve Mildenhall		{{subon\|120+1}}
DF	2	Daniel Leadbitter
MF	8	Ollie Clarke
MF	29	Ángelo Balanta		{{subon\|75}}
FW	27	Nathan Blissett		{{subon\|80}}
colspan=4\|Manager:
colspan=4\|Darrell Clarke

|valign="top"|

|valign="top" width="50%"|

width="25"\|	width="25"\|
cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0" style="font-size:90%; margin:auto;"
GK	1	James McKeown
RB	6	Carl Magnay	{{yel\|41}}
CB	22	Aristote Nsiala
CB	5	Shaun Pearson
LB	35	Gregor Robertson		{{suboff\|74}}
RM	7	Jack Mackreth
CM	8	Craig Disley (c)
CM	4	Scott Brown	{{yel\|87}}	{{suboff\|99}}
LM	20	Nathan Arnold
ST	14	Lenell John-Lewis
ST	33	Ollie Palmer		{{suboff\|70}}
colspan=4\|Substitutes:
DF	19	Daniel Parslow		{{subon\|74}}
MF	16	Craig Clay		{{subon\|99}}
MF	34	Christian Jolley
FW	10	Ross Hannah
FW	18	Jon-Paul Pittman		{{subon\|70}}
colspan=4\|Manager:
colspan=4\|Paul Hurst

width=82% style="font-size: 90%"

| width=50% valign=top|

Match officials:

Assistant referees:
Paul Johnson
Joe Johnson
Fourth official: Martin Coy

| width=50% valign=top|

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

Play-off Final 2015

2015

Play-off Final 2015

Category:Sports events at Wembley Stadium

Conference Premier play-off final