
'I've never been part of a game like it' - how the play-off shootout unfolded
'I've never been part of a game like it' - how the play-off shootout unfolded Image source, Getty Images Image caption, Hull City, Wrexham and Derby County all spent time in the top six on the final day of the...
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Breaking news from the world of sport: 'I've never been part of a game like it' - how the play-off shootout unfolded Image source, Getty Images Image caption, Hull City, Wrexham and Derby County all spent time in the top six on the final day of the Championship season By Andrew Aloia Sport England Published 20 minutes ago Three clubs had the chance to snatch the last remaining Championship play-off place on the final day of the season. And all three - Hull City, Wrexham and Derby County - occupied that one place over the course of an early afternoon of footballing drama played out across East Yorkshire, north east Wales and the East Midlands. Spoiler alert: Hull City were the one to get over the line with their victory against Norwich.
And below is a snapshot of how the Tigers came out on top at the end of a day that started with Hollywood-backed Wrexham in sixth and saw Derby threatening to gatecrash the play-offs when leading Sheffield United at half-time. How it played out It all began with Wrexham in pole position to continue their hopes of challenging for promotion to the Premier League via the play-offs. Numbers were crunched by statisticians (see the table above) and predictions aplenty were made by pundits who had the Red Dragons - a club going for a fourth-successive promotion under the ownership of Ryan Reynolds and Rob Mac - as favourites to finish sixth.
Match Details
How quickly that changed once their game against Middlesbrough, Hull's meeting with Norwich and Derby's date with Sheffield United kicked off at 12:30 BST. 12:34: Middlesbrough's Tommy Conway opened the scoring at Wrexham, dropping the Welsh side out of play-off places. At this point, it's advantage Hull.
12:36: The Tigers, who were feeling their way through the early moments of their game with Norwich, are only sixth for a matter of seconds as Sam Szmodics' tap-in finish for Derby gave the Rams an early lead. This advantage sends Derby, who started the day eighth, above both Hull and Wrexham into sixth in the live table. Image source, Shutterstock Image caption, Sam Szmodics put Derby County ahead against Sheffield United with this finish from point-blank range 12:58: A wondrous free-kick from Josh Windass gets Wrexham back level against automatic-promotion hopefuls Middlesbrough.
But it's still advantage Derby by a point. That goal coincided with Norwich taking the lead at Hull, which had the Tigers momentarily losing touch in eighth place before Oli McBurnie levelled within two minutes. 13:11: A bullet header from Sam Smith had Wrexham ahead against Boro for the first time and back back up to sixth.
Cue pandemonium at the the Stok Cae Ras. Image source, Getty Images Image caption, Wrexham's Sam Smith took flight with his goal celebration against Middlesbrough 13:13: At this point, it's worth highlighting that Wrexham incredible journey from non-league football to be within touching distance the Premier League is the focus of a smash hit docuseries.
The story has climbed to the top of the sports agenda, with fans and analysts following closely.





