Sheffield Wednesday pulled off the greatest playoff comeback in English Football League history to beat Peterborough United on penalties on an unforgettable night in South Yorkshire.
Substitute Jack Hunt scored the all-important fifth penalty as the Owls, who had trailed 4-0 from the first leg, secured their place at Wembley in the League One play-off final.
Wednesday made the perfect start when Michael Smith slotted home a penalty in the opening 10 minutes to give the home fans renewed hope a miracle could be on the cards before Lee Gregory tapped in to make it 2-0 after 25 minutes.
The home side continued to pour forward after the break and Reece James got the third with a close-range finish before Liam Palmer scrambled home with the last kick of the 90 minutes to spark pandemonium.
A shell-shocked Posh had scarcely got out of their own half in the second half of normal time but Gregory deflected a Nathan Thompson header into his own net in extra time to put the visitors back in front on aggregate, only for Callum Paterson to poke home at the second attempt to send the tie to penalty kicks.
Dan Butler’s effort hit the crossbar and went over while every other penalty was scored in a shootout befitting the 120 minutes which had preceded it.
Prior to this tie no team had ever overcome more than a two-goal first-leg deficit in the EFL play-offs to reach the final.
Wednesday, who were the first team in EFL history to win 96 points and not go up automatically, will now face either Bolton or Barnsley at Wembley on Monday, 29 May.
