The 2005 Football Conference play-off Final took place on 14 May 2005 and was contested between

Stevenage Borough Stevenage Football Club (known as Stevenage Borough Football Club until 2010) is a professional association football club based in the town of Stevenage, Hertfordshire, England. The team competes in EFL League Two, League Two, the fourth tier o ...

and

Carlisle United Carlisle United Football Club ( , ) is a professional association football club based in Carlisle, Cumbria, England. The team compete in , the fourth tier of the English football league system. They have played their home games at Brunton Par ...

. It was held at the

Britannia Stadium The Bet365 Stadium (stylised as ''bet365 Stadium'') is an all-seater football stadium in Stoke-on-Trent, Staffordshire, England and the home of EFL Championship club Stoke City. The stadium was previously called the Britannia Stadium but ...

Stoke Stoke is a common place name in the United Kingdom. Stoke may refer to: Places United Kingdom The largest city called Stoke is Stoke-on-Trent in Staffordshire. See below. Berkshire * Stoke Row, Berkshire Bristol * Stoke Bishop * Stok ...

and had an attendance of 13,422.

Match

Summary

Carlisle had the first major chance when the ball fell to

Derek Holmes Derek Holmes (born 18 October 1978) is a Scottish former professional association football, footballer, who played for Heart of Midlothian F.C., Heart of Midlothian, Cowdenbeath F.C., Cowdenbeath, Raith Rovers F.C., Raith Rovers, Ross County F. ...

and he turned and shot, but

Alan Julian Alan John Julian (born 11 March 1983) is a professional footballer who plays as a goalkeeper for National League South club Hampton & Richmond Borough. Julian started his career at Brentford, progressing through the club's academy and makin ...

in the Stevenage goal saved comfortably. Stevenage's first chance came when they had a corner which they took quickly and

Anthony Elding Anthony Lee Elding (born 16 April 1982) is an English football coach and former professional player. Elding was a striker and played from 2001 until 2016. the a host of different clubs at youth level before signing for his hometown team Bosto ...

shot just wide from outside the area. The same corner routine had paid off in the semi-final as it had led to Dino Maamria's winning goal against Hereford. At the other end, Holmes flicked on a long ball for

Glenn Murray Glenn Murray (born 25 September 1983) is an English former professional footballer and football pundit who played as a striker. His career spanned 19 years from 2002 until 2021. Best known for his two spells with Brighton & Hove Albion, Murra ...

who controlled the ball on his chest and shot in one movement from 14 yards out, but Julian again saved well. Carlisle then took the lead in the 23rd minute after Tom Cowan's cross was headed into the bottom corner by Peter Murphy. Stevenage pressed forward looking for the equalising goal with

Jon Brady Jonathan Edmund Alexander Brady (born 14 January 1975) is an Australian soccer coach and former player who is the manager of English club Northampton Town. Playing career After failing to break into the first team at Wycombe Wanderers, Brady j ...

finding

Darryn Stamp Darryn Michael Stamp (born 21 September 1978) is an English football coach and former professional footballer, he is assistant manager of Gainsborough Trinity. As a player he was a striker notably playing in the Football League for Scunthorpe ...

at the back post with a good cross, whose header was deflected over. At the other end, Goodliffe cleared a header off the line to keep Stevenage in the match. The second half saw Stevenage try everything to get an equaliser. Elding blazed over from just inside the area, George Boyd hit a well worked free kick over the crossbar while Michael Warner had a good run into the area, cutting inside onto his left foot before seeing his goalbound shot saved by the feet of

Matt Glennon Matthew William Glennon (born 8 October 1978) is an English former professional footballer who played as a goalkeeper. A graduate of the Bolton Wanderers Academy, he spent 1997 to 2001 at the club without making a first team appearance. Instea ...

. In

stoppage time Association football, more commonly known as football or soccer, is a team sport played between two teams of 11 players who primarily use their feet to propel the ball around a rectangular field called a pitch. The objective of the game is ...

there was a late flurry with the ball bouncing around in the Carlisle penalty area with shots raining in from all angles. But Stevenage could not break down Carlisle and it was they who won and gained promotion back to the Football League at first invitation.

Details

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:2005 Conference National Play-Off Final

Play-off Final The playoffs, play-offs, postseason or finals of a sports league are a competition played after the regular season by the top competitors to determine the league champion or a similar accolade. Depending on the league, the playoffs may be eithe ...

Play-off Final 2005 Play-off Final 2005 National League (English football) play-off finals

Conference National Playoff Final 2005 The 2005 Football Conference play-off Final took place on 14 May 2005 and was contested between Stevenage Borough and Carlisle United. It was held at the Britannia Stadium, Stoke and had an attendance of 13,422. Match Summary Carlisle had the ...

Conference Premier play-off Final