Hednesford Town defeat Warrington Rylands on penalties to seal promotion

Rylands looked destined for promotion, having taken the lead three minutes after half-time when Clive Smith powerfully headed home from a Ben Hardcastle corner.

But the Pitmen, beaten just once at Keys Park all season in the league, snatched a leveller on the stroke of 90 minutes, George Williams squeezing a shot past Blues goalkeeper Luke Pilling after the visitors had failed to clear their lines fully from a free-kick.

The action continued into extra-time as both sides had their opportunity to win it.

Hednesford's came first, Montel Gibson denied from a central position 12 yards from goal, by an excellent Pilling save.

Then, at the death, a Hardcastle free-kick brushed off a Hednesford head and against Tony Breeden's bar.

In the shootout, the first eight penalties were successfully dispatched before Rylands blinked first. George Waring - the scorer of the winning goal in their play-off semi-final at FC United of Manchester less than a week earlier - saw his spot-kick crash against the bar.

That left Joe Doyle-Charles with the task of firing his side to Step 2, and he sent Pilling the wrong way to spark scenes of joy and euphoria from the majority of the 4,000-strong crowd inside Keys Park.

Monday's result means back-to-back promotions for the Pitmen following last season's triumph via the NPL West Division play-offs.

They join Avro, Racing Club Warwick and Emley in ending the campaign with NPL play-off success.