League Two play-off final: Freddy turns the dream into reality

Southend United: Eastwood 105, Jupp 110

Southend United: Eastwood 105, Jupp 110

After extra time. Score at 90 minutes 0-0 Half-time: 0-0 Attendance: 19,653

With victory here, Southend made sure logic - which had been noticeable by its absence all week - returned to football in some small way.

In a week in which Liverpool produced the European comeback of all time and Arsenal picked up an FA Cup they did not deserve, the Essex side's promotion meant, unusually, the top-placed play-off side won promotion. Yet guessing a winner here before Freddy Eastwood's belated strike was an impossible task, such had been the poor standard set by both sides.

And it was thoroughly in keeping with what had gone before that Eastwood's goal came from all of one yard. Not pretty but certainly effective enough to take the Shrimpers who finished fourth in the regular season to Lincoln's sixth - to the third tier of English football for the first time in seven years. Duncan Jupp's effort soon after confirmed their promotion.

Eastwood, the striker once rejected by West Ham, chose his moment well, scoring with the last kick of the first period of extra-time and with that momentum behind the Essex team it was enough to snuff out Lincoln's play-off dreams for the third successive year.

Nicky Nicolau swung in the corner and Spencer Prior flicked it on. Matthew Bloomer cleared the header off the line but Eastwood then swooped.

That forced Lincoln on to the offensive and left them exposed to a counter-attack, which their manager Keith Alexander realised made things harder still. "Once the first goal went in we were chasing shadows," he said. His counterpart Steve Tilson was delighted with Eastwood's contribution and instantly tried to fend off any suitors by revealing he has two more years on his contract.

Southend profited from the increased open spaces and five minutes later Eastwood turned provider, finding Jupp on the overlap for a well-taken goal, his first since scoring for Fulham in this division a decade ago.

Yet, before extra-time it had been Lincoln with the best chances and Alexander rued his side failing to take their opportunities. With 71 minutes gone, Southend's goalkeeper Darryl Flahavan dropped a routine cross and in the confusion the ball rolled kindly for Francis Green. Green failed to connect properly in front of the unguarded net and Che Wilson was able to clear.

Nine minutes later and again Green was denied what would have been a spectacular goal. With his back to goal, he tried his luck with an overhead kick that Flahavan easily tipped away for a corner.

From the winning side's point of view, the major disappointment was their lack of fans, outnumbered virtually two-to-one by Lincoln's travelling brigade. It meant that the Millennium Stadium was filled with vast ranges of empty seats, providing a disconcertingly neutral atmosphere on what is a big occasion for the victors. Eastwood's and Jupp's goals at least partially filled that void.