Millwall 1 Swindon Town 0 - Wembley woe for Wilson as Lions ride luck to win

Millwall manager Kenny Jackett was finally able to celebrate play-off success as Swindon were left cursing the Wembley pitch.

Captain Paul Robinson's first-half goal in the League One play-off final fired the Lions back to the Championship after a four-year absence.

Millwall, beaten in their previous five play-off campaigns, also needed a helping hand from the much-maligned Wembley turf as a nasty bobble denied Swindon's Charlie Austin the chance to equalise.

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But the Lions held on for the win and, having lost last year's final and finished in third place this term, deservedly followed Norwich and Leeds into the second tier.

Victory also marked an upturn in fortunes for Jackett, who was in charge of 2006 losing finalists Swansea and saw the Lions narrowly beaten by Scunthorpe in last season's showpiece.

"It's nice," Jackett said. "It's the sixth time for Millwall in the play-offs and for me as a manager it's my third time, and it certainly beats losing.

"The club had come a long way last year and it was so disappointing at the end. So we built on that anger and I'm pleased to say the players have seen it through."

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Robinson's goal came six minutes before half-time, the defender poking home from six yards after Swindon failed to deal with Danny Schofield's swinging corner.

Millwall had the ball in the net earlier in the first half via the head of Swindon defender Kevin Amankwaah, but his blushes were spared by an offside flag.

Swindon's big opportunity to level fell to Austin, the prolific striker plucked from non-league Poole Town back in October.

The 20-year-old was gifted a clear run on goal by Robinson's poor header in the 70th minute but, as he shaped to shoot, the ball bounced up and his shinned effort drifted wide.

"It's maybe the bit of fortune you need," Jackett admitted.

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As south London prepared for a long-awaited promotion party, Swindon manager Danny Wilson, formerly of Barnsley and Sheffield Wednesday, was left to reflect on what might have been.

"The game hinged on two moments, a missed header from us at the corner and a bobble for Charlie," he said. "I'd have put my house on him but what can you do when the ball bobbles up like that? You can't blame the boy.

"He's inconsolable, but his goals got us here today. We wouldn't criticise him even if it wasn't a bobble. Maybe it's fate, I don't know. It's absolute devastation in the dressing room but they can be very proud of what they have done this season."

Town chairman Andrew Fitton was even considering his position at the club following the disappointment of defeat.

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"I need to think about the way the club is run and what happens in the future," he said.

Robinson's 39th-minute goal was nothing less than the Lions deserved having posed the bigger threat throughout against a Town side.

The victory – in front of 73,108 fans – went some way to banishing the memory of the previous play-off defeats for Millwall.

Lions boss Jackett stressed ahead of the encounter that "there is something in football, and life, in persistence" and his class of 2010 have proved just that.

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And although it was despair for Swindon at the final whistle, their 12-month transformation from relegation contenders to promotion nearly-men under manager Wilson deserves plenty of credit.

Millwall went into the clash without player of the year Alan Dunne, who had failed to recover from a foot injury, while Swindon were also missing influential captain Gordon Greer due to suspension.

And it was the Lions who looked the livelier up front in the opening exchanges, 23-goal leading scorer Steve Morison coming closest to breaking the deadlock after 17 minutes when his delicate chip beat David Lucas but drifted just inches over the crossbar.

Swindon finally settled midway through the half and an unmarked Lescinel Jean-Francois came within inches of connecting with Alan Sheehan's free-kick to the far post.

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Kevin Amankwaah, a target of the Millwall boo-boys following his verbal spat with Neil Harris earlier in the season, inadvertently headed into his own net soon after only to see his error then ruled out for offside, much to the obvious joy of the 34,000-odd travelling Robins.

But the half's defining moment came six minutes before the break as Robinson handed Millwall what proved to be the winner.

Swindon started on the front foot after the break although both sides were creating half-chances.

The second half was proving to be a much more open and even affair. Town defender Jean-Francois came close to levelling when he saw his header well kept out by the diving David Forde, while Morison then fired straight at Lucas at the other end when he should have done better.

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But Swindon's best chance of the game arrived in the 72nd minute when Austin pounced on Robinson's mis-guided header to find himself clean through before the pitch robbed him of the chance to draw his side level.

Morison – such a talismanic figure for Millwall throughout the campaign – could have put the final beyond doubt in the last 15 minutes, but he managed to waste a couple of great openings.

And it was then left for Forde to deny Austin with a last-ditch save deep into injury time to send Swindon's players to a crumpled heap on the floor and Millwall soaring into the Championship.