2004 Football Conference play-off Final

The 2003-04 Football Conference Playoff 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 15,000 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.

Match details

16 May 2004 13:00	Aldershot Town	1 – 1 (a.e.t.)	Shrewsbury Town	Britannia Stadium, Stoke-on-Trent Attendance: 19,216 Referee: K Stroud (Hampshire)
	McLean  35'		Darby  43'
		Penalties
	Sills Giles Gosling	0 – 3	Rodgers Tolley Sedgemore Challis

ALDERSHOT TOWN GK 1 Nikki Bull DF 16 Simon Downer 66' DF 6 Dominic Sterling DF 5 Ray Warburton (c) DF 37 Will Antwi MF 8 Chris Giles MF 18 Jamie Gosling MF 19 Jon Challinor MF 26 Adam Miller FW 10 Roscoe D'Sane 86' FW 11 Aaron McLean 60' Substitutes: GK 22 Richard Barnard DF 3 Jason Chewins DF 2 Dean Hooper 66' FW 23 Lee Charles 86' FW 9 Tim Sills 60' Manager: Terry Brown

SHREWSBURY TOWN GK 25 Scott Howie DF 15 Trevor Challis DF 5 Darren Tinson (c) 91' DF 6 David Ridler MF 8 Jake Sedgemore MF 11 Sam Aiston MF 12 Martin O'Connor 84' MF 4 Jamie Tolley FW 17 Ryan Lowe FW 18 Duane Darby 93' FW 9 Luke Rodgers Substitutes: GK 30 Joe Hart DF 27 Lee Lawrence 91' MF 21 David Edwards MF 29 Kevin Street 84' FW 10 Colin Cramb 93' Manager: Jimmy Quinn

MATCH RULES 90 minutes. 30 minutes of silver-goal extra-time if necessary. Penalty shootout if scores still level. Five named substitutes Maximum of 3 substitutions.