Town clinch promotion to League One 

Fans delight as Town clinch promotion!

Coca-Cola League Two

RESULT: Swindon Town 1 Walsall 1

Town scorer: Ifil 52
Walsall scorer: Keates 90+2

Swindon Town have clinched promotion to League One - securing the point they needed with a hard-earned draw against top-of-the-table Walsall at the County Ground this afternoon.

It wasn't quite the nerve-jangling finale everyone had been dreading, and by 4.50pm all 14,731 supporters were celebrating as Walsall also claimed the League Two Championship.

We've done it!: Towns fans celebrate after the Robins won promotion

Town looked marginally the better side in a first half short on goalmouth action. Paul Sturrock's men looked up for the job, but the commanding figure of Walsall keeper Clayton Ince kept them at bay on the rare occasions they came in sight of the goal.

At the other end, former Town loanee Trevor Benjamin tried to spoil the imminent party, but neither he nor any of his teammates mustered a genuine goal attempt in the whole first period.

Bumper crowd: close to 15,000 supporters packed into the County Ground to see Town go up

It was the Town fans who were celebrating a goal by 3.15pm, but not in the match they were watching. Slowly the news had filtered through that Accrington had taken a surprise lead at MK Dons.

By half-time, neither Town nor Walsall had come close to scoring, but things were about to change.

The second half was only seven minutes old when Town won a corner in front of the Town End. Sofiane Zaaboub whipped the ball in and Jerel Ifil met it perfectly with his head. The ball flew into the net, and Town were on their way.

Perfect timing!: the Town players congratulate Jerel Ifil after his first League goal of the season put them ahead

Jubilant: Christian Roberts and Jerel Ifil

Only two goals from Walsall and four from MK Dons could ruin things now, and the Town fans dared to start the celebrations.

Further news from Milton Keynes - an equaliser and then another goal from Sean O'Hanlon to put Dons 2-1 up - failed to rattle the Town fans.

Back at the County Ground, Town were looking likely to add to their lead. But Roberts, Zaaboub and Sturrock all failed to find a red shirt with the final pass after ripping through the back-peddling Walsall defence.

Even the news of yet another goal from MK Dons failed to worry the Town fans as the clock wound down.

Then, out of the blue, with 90 minutes on the clock, Walsall scored with their first and only shot on target. Dean Keates unleashed a rocket shot from outside the box which flew into the net past the helpless Phil Smith.

The goal was the icing on the cake for the travelling Walsall fans. They had also already begun to celebrate - safe in the knowledge that the championship was theirs, with the news that Bristol Rovers were winning at Hartlepool.

And when the final whistle went seconds later, there was the unusual spectacle of both sets of supporters jumping for joy.

League One here we come!: the Swindon players show their joy after the final whistle

Several hundred Town fans (and a few Walsall fans) couldn't contain their excitement and streamed onto the pitch. Ten minutes later, after several appeals over the public address system, they made their way back to the stands.

Then the Walsall players emerged to celebrate with their fans on Stratton Bank.

And moments later, the home fans cheered as Paul Sturrock and his players came back out on to the pitch for a lap of honour.

And so, despite a nervous fortnight of waiting, everything turned out just fine in the end. The Champagne corks finally popped at the County Ground, and - just for once - everyone left a football ground happy.

The final League Two table:

1 Walsall 46 32 89 [C]
2 Hartlepool United 46 25 88 [P]
3 Swindon Town 46 20 85 [P]
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4 Milton Keynes Dons 46 18 84
5 Lincoln City 46 11 74
6 Bristol Rovers 46 7 72
7 Shrewsbury Town 46 22 71
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8 Stockport County 46 11 71
9 Rochdale 46 20 66
10 Peterborough United 46 9 65
11 Darlington 46 -4 65
12 Wycombe Wanderers 46 5 62
13 Notts County 46 2 62
14 Barnet 46 -15 59
15 Grimsby Town 46 -16 59
16 Hereford United 46 -8 55
17 Mansfield Town 46 -5 54
18 Chester City 46 -8 53
19 Wrexham 46 -22 51
20 Accrington Stanley 46 -11 50
21 Bury 46 -15 50
22 Macclesfield Town 46 -22 48
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23 Boston United 46 -29 46
24 Torquay United 46 -27 35