Sheffield Wednesday have booked their place in the Championship playoff final courtesy of a 3-1 aggregate victory over Brighton & Hove Albion.
The Owls had a two-goal aggregate lead going into tonight's second leg at the Amex Stadium, and they weathered an early storm to hold out for a 1-1 draw on the night and set up a trip to Wembley.
Fifteen points separated third-placed Brighton from Wednesday in the final Championship standings, but it is the Yorkshire club who will face either Hull City or Derby County in the playoff final on May 28.
The hosts went into the match knowing that no team had ever overturned a 2-0 first-leg deficit in Championship playoff history, but they got off to a whirlwind start and it took three last-ditch blocks in quick succession from Wednesday to deny Brighton a goal inside the opening minutes after an early corner had dropped into a dangerous area.
It would prove to be a theme of the opening stages as Brighton lay siege to the Wednesday goal, with Anthony Knockaert proving to be the biggest threat of the lot having overcome an ankle injury from the first leg to start.
The winger came within inches of breaking the deadlock on the night when he curled a free kick over the wall, only to see it come back off the inside of the post and somehow stay out with Keiren Westwood beaten.
Knockaert found himself standing over another free kick from a similar position moments later, but this time he snuck a cheeky effort underneath the jumping wall which Westwood got down well to save.
The former Leicester City man was almost single-handedly knocking on the Sheffield Wednesday door, and just one minute later he saw a long-range strike deflect off Tom Lees and drop narrowly past the post with the keeper struggling to get there.
Sam Baldock got in on the act next when he latched on to a ball over the top before volleying an effort towards goal, but his strike was tipped over the crossbar by the over-worked Westwood.
The Wednesday keeper was helpless when yet another chance fell to Knockaert, but this time the Frenchman nodded wide from close range after James Wilson had flicked the ball on.
All of the early pressure did finally pay off in the 19th minute as Brighton halved the aggregate deficit through Lewis Dunk, who volleyed a close-range finish into the roof of the net after Knockaert's free kick had been flicked on at the front post.
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That goal seemed to settle the visitors, though, and while Brighton continued to enjoy the better of things, Wednesday were at least able to stem the tide in terms of chances.
Even so, their equaliser came out of the blue as Ross Wallace inadvertently levelled things up on the night when his cross went all the way through without getting a touch and nestled into the far corner.
The Seagulls, who lost four players to injury in the opening hour of Friday's first leg, were once again left bemoaning their luck after claiming that Dunk had been fouled when trying to clear the ball, only for the goal to be awarded.
Wilson had a chance to restore Brighton's lead just five minutes later as the hosts quickly resumed their dominance, but he was denied by Westwood from close range.
There we no shortage of avenues from which the home side looked likely to score, but one of the most consistent was from free kicks and they came close with another one when Jiri Skalak curled a long-range strike just over.
Wednesday continued to hold out, though, and after Kieran Lee had cleared one off the line in the last minute of the first half the visitors broke straight down the other end and almost put the tie beyond their hosts.
Gary Hooper led the charge out before finding Fernando Forestieri, who returned the favour with an outside-of-the-boot cross back to the striker, whose firm header was well saved by David Stockdale.
It was Westwood who continued to be the busier of the two goalkeepers in the opening stages of the second half, though, making early saves to deny Skalak and Wilson after the interval.
Stockdale, whose late save in the first half had kept his side in the tie, almost dropped a clanger moments later when he spilled an effort from Barry Bannan, but there were no Wednesday players lurking to take advantage.
Brighton's intensity began to wane as the match wore on, and Wednesday were able to limit the hosts' chances as well as posing the occasional threat at the other end, with Atdhe Nuhiu nodding wide of the target with just under 15 minutes remaining.
Time continued to tick away for the Seagulls, who only missed out on automatic promotion on the final day of the regular season, but despite being given six minutes of stoppage time they could not force a nervy ending as Westwood produced one last smart save to deny Dunk.
The Owls will find out whether Hull or Derby will meet them at Wembley when the second semi-final takes place tomorrow night, with Wednesday looking to end a 16-year wait for a return to the Premier League.
