Sheffield Wednesday 5 Peterborough United 1: Owls win on penalties after play-off game for the ages

Saturday's Yorkshire Post may have given the impression that your team did not have a snowflake's chance in hell of overturning a 4-0 deficit in the second leg of your League One play-off semi-final.

Quite apart from the fact that nothing even close had ever been done in play-off history we also may have implied that your players lacked the moral fibre to pull off such a feat, despite the obvious qualities highlighted by the end-of-season league table.

And yet somehow your team not only took a frankly ridiculous game of football to extra-time with a fourth goal from Liam Palmer in the eighth added minute, not only came from behind in extra-time to take the tie to penalties, but actually held their nerve to convert more of them than Peterborough United could to triumph 5-3 after a 5-1 scoreline on an astonishing night the like of which one of football's most historic stadia has never seen before.

The pitch was flooded with disbelieving Wednesdayites Que Sera-ing. They will never forget tonight.

When the Owls scored twice inside 25 minutes, mission impossible suddenly started to look like mission extremely difficult but surely nobody could have foreseen just how it would pan out.

Despite besieging Peterborough throughout the second half, James's goal was all they could add to Michael Smith's penalty and Gregory's second.

And it looked like a Lee Gregory own goal had ended the fairytale on for Callum Paterson to coolly revive it and Jack Hunt to dink the decisive penalty.

Moore's pre-match appeal for the 31,835 crowd to do their bit was greeted with a roar which told him he need not have bothered. Even though he was still in the dressing room at the time, he would have heard it and maybe felt it.

Peterborough wisely decided they could not afford to let the hosts kick into the Kop in the second-half, but it only helped the inevitable early barrage.

It made for a frantic start to the game. When Cameron Dawson picked up the ball with about 10 seconds gone his response was to wave players upfield as if that was all that was left.

By contrast, the game had not hit two minutes when plodding Peterborough started time-wasting, In their shoes you would, and with referee David Webb reluctant to wave cards for it, they carried on in that vein.

The Owls had penalty appeals turned away for a challenge on Michael Smith, paired with Gregory in what was inevitably a more attacking line-up, for a fifth-minute challenge but their wish was soon granted, Barry Bannan playing Marvin Johnson in at the corner of the penalty area and the wing-back brought down.

Smith, who allowed Will Norris to save an important chance early in the first leg did not make the same mistake again, sending the goalkeeper the wrong way from 12 yards.

Gregory shot on the stretch at a corner and Paterson - moved to right wing-back to accommodate more attackers - kept his calm in the 24th minute, picking out Josh Windass with a cross, only for him to steer his shot over.

It would be Paterson who was influential in the second a minute later, sprinting 60 yards so he could be on the end of Johnson's delivery, he swung his boot at what looked like a shot but certainly became a centre-helped in by Gregory.

The roar around Hillsborough was ear-splitting.

Disappointingly, a blue flare was thrown on, disrupting the rhythm to the frustration of Gregory.

The danger of a counter-attack was always there, though. Centre-back James needed to make a good tackle and holding midfielder Palmer a big block on Joe Ward.

Dawson made three big saves, with his right foot from Kwame Poku, and two low ones from Ephron Mason-Clark either side of the second goal.

The second half was the siege of Leppings Lane but by the time we ticked into half a game without the third goal, doubts started to creep in.

Gregory's audacious overhead kick was saved, Peterson's header at a corner blocked and cleared by Ronnie Edwards. A Windass volley was beaten away. Dan Butler made an outstanding tackle on Paterson.

James's selection meant Wednesday had a centre-back who could bomb forward and he refused to take no for an answer, running past Frankie Kent and forcinv the ball in after 71 minutes.

But it took until the eighth minute of stoppage time for Palmer to equalise, forcing the ball home after substitute Aden Flint – brought on to cause mayhem with his height – headed it across.

The balloon seemed to burst when Nathan Thompson's header on the stroke of half-time in extra-time went in off Gregory but still the Owls refused to accept their fate, Paterson staying ridiculous calm to slot home in the 112th minute.

But that was nothing compared to the ice in Hunt’s veins after Smith, Will Vaulks, Bannan and Windass all converted their penalties.

Butler hit the crossbar and Wednesday did the impossible.

Sheffield Wednesday: Dawson; Iorfa (Flint 90), Ihiekwe, James (Vaulks 88); Palmer; Paterson, Windass, Bannan, Johnson (Brown 100); Smith, Gregory (Hunt 109). Unused substitutes: Brown, Vaulks, Adeniran, Bakinson, Stockdale.

Peterborough United: Norris; Ward (N Thompson 46), Kent, Edwards, Burrows (Butler 46); Kyprianou, Norburn; Poku (Knight 80), Taylor, Mason-Clark; Clarke-Harris. Unused substitutes: J Thompson, Jones, Blackmore, Tshimanga.

Referee: D Webb (County Durham).