GRIMSBY Town booked a dream trip to Wembley Stadium by holding firm for a goalless draw against a plucky Morecambe side.
Ten years on from the days of Wayne Burnett and Kevin Donovan, the Mariners supporters now have new heroes to follow to the new stadium in north-west London.
In the end, Paul Bolland's first leg winner proved to be enough to win the tie, although Grimsby were forced into a determined defensive display in the second leg.
A near-capacity Blundell Park crowd roared Alan Buckley's side all the way in what was a tense affair.
Few shots on target were registered by either side but it was Morecambe who had the most pressure as they looked to claw back their one-goal deficit.
But Grimsby never let them get through and defended like lions as they saw the job through, securing their place against Milton Keynes Dons in the final on March 30.
After giving some of his fringe players a run-out in the 4-0 win at Christie Park on Saturday, Alan Buckley reverted to his regular first team for this deciding leg of the JPT Northern Final.
Phil Barnes came back into the starting line-up after his outstanding display in goal in the first leg last Tuesday.
There were also returns for Tom Newey, Peter Till, Danny North and Rob Atkinson, while Ryan Bennett dropped to the bench after picking up the League Two apprentice of the year award in London on Sunday.
Barnes started in the goalkeeper's jersey, behind a back five of Jamie Clarke, Atkinson, Nick Fenton, Newey and Nick Hegarty.
Paul Bolland, Danny Boshell and James Hunt made up the midfield three, while Till took on an attacking role just behind North.
Bennett was joined by Gary Montgomery, Andy Taylor, Gary Jones and Saturday's man of the match Peter Bore, who were also named as substitutes.
Morecambe brought Neil Sorvel into the side that was comfortably beaten on Saturday, with Henry McStay dropping to the bench alongside Michael Twiss, who could have been an important figure in the later stages of the match.
Both sides knew exactly what they had to do in order to reach the showpiece final.For the Mariners, a draw would be good enough after the first leg victory but Sammy McIlroy's Morecambe would need to win.A Morecambe win by one goal would take the tie to the lottery of a penalty shoot-out.
Morecambe kicked off playing towards an Osmond Stand that was packed with Mariners supporters after all home areas sold out.
Town won a free kick on the left in the second minute and Newey's kick found Atkinson before North's shot was pushed over the bar by Shrimps stopper Scott Davies.
The Mariners won a second corner two minutes later after a counter-attack through Till.Hegarty's kick caused problems for the visiting defence but the ball was eventually cleared after a shot by Hunt.
Town were starting in exactly the right way and they had another opening on 6 minutes, when Boshell's shot from 18 yards was stopped by Davies.
After the flurry of Grimsby attacks in the opening ten minutes, Morecambe began to come into the game more, enjoying spells of possession and winning throw-ins in dangerous areas of the pitch.
A long ball forward from Fenton found North onside with 13 minutes on the clock but after twisting and turning, the young striker could only find Davies with his shot.
Adam Yates had a shot from 30 yards that was straight at Barnes before North was beaten to the ball by Davies at the other end as both sides looked for the opening goal.
Then Carl Baker shot just wide from a narrow angle on the left after he had got onto the end of a loose ball.
Morecambe were beginning to take the initiative but as yet, hadn't troubled Barnes, while Till was looking very lively in attack for the Mariners.
It was that man Till who pounced on a Morecambe mistake on the half way line to carry the ball forward on 25 minutes.He worked an opening on the edge of the box but shot well over the bar.
Boshell was shown a yellow card for a foul on Jim Bentley but the resulting free kick caused no problems for the Grimsby defence.
Morecambe won a corner in front of their small band of travelling supporters after Hegarty cleared a cross on 31 minutes but again, Town's aggregate lead wasn't threatened.
The visitors put together another passage of possession on 39 minutes as Town stood off but again, the Shrimps couldn't create a goalscoring chance as the move ended with a foul on Clarke.
Two minutes of stoppage time were added at the end of a first half where Grimsby had done enough to preserve their narrow lead in the tie.
Despite some nervous moments, Town had defended well and had looked useful in attack in patches.
Alan Buckley would probably have been happy with the half overall, although he would perhaps have some concern at the way the visitors were being allowed to build up play down the left side.
The Mariners still held the advantage but the first 45 minutes had shown that the tie was far from over, a point that Sammy McIlroy would doubtless be pushing in his half-time team talk in the away dressing room.
No changes were made by either side before the restart and Morecambe had the first opportunity of the second half when they won an early corner on the right.Hegarty cleared it towards North but the striker was penalised for a foul on halfway.
Craig Stanley's 25-yard shot following the free kick was the first warning to the Mariners, flashing over the bar from 20 yards as the Lancashire outfit signalled their intentions for the second period.
Boshell won a Town corner on 50 minutes as the volume was turned up by the huge Blundell Park crowd.That turned into a second flag-kick after Hegarty's attempted cross was deflected out.
Town kept the ball well around the 54th minute, knocking it around the midfield in a move that ended with a Hegarty cross being cut out for a corner.
Before it was taken, Buckley made his first substitution, sending on Peter Bore in place of North.
Morecambe gave the Mariners another scare when Baker ran from halfway before his shot hit Newey.Town struggled to clear and the away side won a corner.
Grimsby were struggling to keep the ball, letting their opponents build play up and inviting pressure.But as yet, the Town defence had held firm in the face of that pressure and Barnes had enjoyed a much quieter evening than in the first leg.
The away side won a corner on 66 minutes as they continued to push forward.Fenton headed Baker's kick away before the ball was returned to the wide man.This time, his cross went behind for a goal kick.
Morecambe were still being allowed to attack and by now, the Mariners were living dangerously.The 1-0 aggregate lead was looking very precarious as the Shrimps piled forward looking to deny the men from Cleethorpes a trip to Wembley.
Sammy McIlroy decided to play his ace in the pack on 70 minutes, switching Baker for former Manchester United trainee Michael Twiss.
The Shrimps fired yet another warning five minutes later, when Matty Blinkhorn turned and hit a snap-shot from 18 yards that whistled just over the bar.
That was the cue for Buckley to make his second change, bringing on Gary Jones in place of Till. Jones would add some muscle to the Town frontline for the final quarter of an hour, which would surely be of benefit to his strike partner Bore.
Blinkhorn was replaced by Wayne Curtis and at the same time, Stuart Drummond came on for Baker as Morecambe boss McIlroy had one last throw of the dice with seven minutes to go.
Much of the game was now being played inside the Town half as the away side piled on the pressure.Still the Mariners would not let them through though and they were roared on by their supporters on all four sides of Blundell Park, who by now were beginning to believe that a trip to London was appearing on the horizon.
As the game moved into four minutes of added time, that belief grew stronger, although Mariners supporters had their hearts in their mouths as Morecambe forced another opportunity in the second of those added minutes.
Grimsby managed to hold out and when the referee blew his final whistle, Mariners supporters spilled onto the pitch in celebration of what is already an unbelievable achievement in getting to Wembley.
Town will now face Milton Keynes Dons at the new stadium on Sunday March 30, while Paul Ince's side are also the next opponents for Grimsby at Blundell park on Friday.
