Stevenage vs Grimsby Town. Sky Bet League Two.
Lamex StadiumAttendance6,533.
Saturday 29 April 2023 19:17, UK
Luther James-Wildin's first goal for two years sealed promotion to Sky Bet League One for Stevenage as they defeated Grimsby 2-0 at a jubilant Lamex Stadium.
Jamie Reid had earlier opened the scoring for Stevenage, who ended their nine-year stay in English football's fourth tier and gave manager Steve Evans the seventh promotion of his career.
Stevenage thought they had the perfect start when Reid headed in from Carl Piergianni's knock-down in the second minute, but an assistant referee's flag cut their celebrations short.
The hosts upped the pressure in the second half and broke the deadlock after 57 minutes when Reid's header from Jordan Roberts' cross found the bottom corner.
Grimsby goalkeeper Max Crocombe almost presented Stevenage with a second when he lost the ball in his area, only for Luke Waterfall to clear off the line from Danny Rose.
But the party could begin for the hosts in the 67th minute when Reid laid the ball off for substitute James-Wildin, who coolly stroked the ball past Crocombe from the edge of the area.
Stevenage manager Steve Evans:
"It's a magical day for everyone in the town, everyone at the football club, our chairman [Phil Wallace], his wife Margaret and all the board. They've been fantastic.
"The players are the real heroes - we've said before, the general sends his troops into battle and the general then stays in the big war building and looks at a screen.
"The real heroes are the boys who have to go out on the pitch and do it in football terms, and they've been fantastic all season.
"They've been acclaimed, then they were written off, although we never wrote them off, we said if we stick to the plan and stick to the way we do things, they'll come good.
"I'm delighted for them today, every one of them."