The 2004 Football Conference play-off Final took place on 16 May 2004 and was contested between Aldershot Town and Shrewsbury Town. 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 was re ...

Stoke-on-Trent Stoke-on-Trent (often abbreviated to Stoke) is a city and unitary authority area in Staffordshire, England, with an area of . In 2019, the city had an estimated population of 256,375. It is the largest settlement in Staffordshire and is surroun ...

. A crowd of 19,216 attended the game (a Conference Play-off final record at the time), with just over 12,000 travelling from

Shropshire Shropshire (; alternatively Salop; abbreviated in print only as Shrops; demonym Salopian ) is a landlocked historic county in the West Midlands region of England. It is bordered by Wales to the west and the English counties of Cheshire to ...

Match

Summary

Aldershot had the first real chance of the game when

Roscoe Dsane Roscoe Niiquaye Dsane (born 16 October 1980) is an English professional footballer who last played for Isthmian Division One South side Walton Casuals as a striker. A Crystal Palace youth product, Dsane made his professional debut for South ...

got on the end of a ball over the top of the defence and held off Shrews captain Darren Tinson, only to drag his shot wide. Jon Challinor then had a chance but failed to connect properly with

Aaron McLean Aaron McLean (born 25 May 1983) is an English retired professional footballer who played as a striker. At international level he gained five caps for the England C team during his time in the non-league. McLean began his senior career with Leyt ...

's cutback. At the other end it took a crucial intervention from Dominic Sterling to deny Jamie Tolley after a good surging run from the midfielder. Aldershot took the lead in the 36th minute when Shots captain

Ray Warburton Raymond Warburton (born 7 October 1967 in Rotherham, England) is an English former footballer. Playing career Warburton started his career at hometown club Rotherham United, before moving on to York City in August 1989. At York he helped the cl ...

headed on a free kick and McLean powered the ball into the net. However Shrewsbury were level just minutes later, with Duane Darby smashing in an almost identical goal. In the second half the Shropshire side should have taken the lead when Luke Rodgers crossed for

Ryan Lowe Ryan Thomas Lowe (born 18 September 1978) is an English football manager and former professional player, who is manager of Championship side Preston North End. His playing career, as a striker, began at Burscough in 1999 and he became a Footbal ...

, who blazed over from inside the area. With the scores level at 1–1, silver goal extra time was required, and Lee Charles had a couple of chances to win it for the Shots. Ultimately the match needed a penalty shoot-out to be settled. After Rodgers had missed Shrewsbury's first kick, goalkeeper Scott Howie was the hero, saving all three of Aldershot's penalties while teammates Tolley,

Jake Sedgemore Jacob Oliver "Jake" Sedgemore (born 20 October 1978 in Wolverhampton) is an English footballer who plays for AFC Wulfrunians. He previously played in the Football League for Shrewsbury Town and Bury. His brother Ben was also a professional foot ...

and finally

Trevor Challis Trevor Challis (born 23 October 1975) is an English former professional footballer and lacrosse player. He was part of the successful Queens Park Rangers youth team that won the South East North West Counties League and Southern Junior Floodli ...

scored theirs to send Shrewsbury back into the

Football League The English Football League (EFL) is a league of professional football clubs from England and Wales. Founded in 1888 as the Football League, the league is the oldest such competition in the world. It was the top-level football league in Engla ...

Details

{{Shrewsbury Town F.C. matches Play-off Final 2004 Play-off Final 2004 Play-off Final 2004

2004 2004 was designated as an International Year of Rice by the United Nations, and the International Year to Commemorate the Struggle Against Slavery and its Abolition (by UNESCO). Events January * January 3 – Flash Airlines Flight 60 ...

Football Conference Play-off Final 2004 Football Conference play-off Final Play-off National League Final 2004