By Alyson Rudd
Having dominated the match, Swansea faced a free-kick just outside the penalty area, deep into injury time. John Frain's first effort ricocheted off the wall but referee Terry Heilbron ordered the kick to be retaken and having waited for Jonathan Coates to be booked for encroaching, Frain proceeded to blast the ball past the wall and the 'keeper.
Full-time was blown the second Swansea re-started the game and Northampton could hardly believe their good fortune.
Go back to your footballing constituencies and tell your teams to deliberately fall short of the points required to win automatic promotion. For you will be rewarded with a truly scrumptious day out.
This, the first of the weekend's three play-off finals, provided the delirious supporters with gospel singers moving enough to be worth the ticket price alone as well as a fireworks display before kick-off.
It would have been perfect if only the public address system had not failed for God Save the Queen.
Northampton fans outnumbered their Welsh counterparts by two-to-one but they fell silent soon after the game started. The Swansea players all mimicked their player-manager Jan Molby's complete composure. He likes playing at Wembley and, just as he did for Liverpool, ruled the centre-circle yesterday.
All Swansea's moves emanated from his bulky frame and in the sixth minute he prompted a stunning attack when he headed the ball into the path of Carl Heggs whose volley on the turn brought a impressive save from Andy Woodman.
It was significant that only when Molby was shown to be vulnerable that Northampton started to threaten. The Dane was dispossessed by Neil Grayson who released Sean Parrish. His shot beat the 'keeper but was cleared off the line by Christian Edwards.
As the wide open spaces of Wembley had not yielded anything for either side in the first half they opted to ignore them. Northampton in particular tried to recreate Third Division congestion and deliberately thumped the ball towards wherever there were the most bodies.
Molby could see his players were tempted likewise and cajoled them to spread the ball wide. They looked the more dangerous for it. Both David Thomas and Heggs might have headed Swansea into the lead but for the want of a couple of inches.
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