That was the moment. The moment I've spent my entire Dale supporting life looking for. All of a sudden, twenty seven years spent watching Dale made sense to me.

The defeats, the relegation battles, the two hundred mile drives back in the cold without a point to show for it, the disappointments, the miseries.... they all meant nothing. For at around 2:30pm on Saturday 17th May, we were without doubt the greatest side in the whole world. And I love them to bits.

It wasn't easy, and in true Dale style, we did things the hard way having to come back from a 3-1 aggregate deficit after quite possibly the softest penalty that you'll ever see, and having to spend the last ten minutes of extra time with just ten minutes.

But we did it, and on Bank Holiday Monday our trip to London won't involve Barnet or Dagenham or Leyton Orient. For we're all off to Wembley. And yes my knees have gone all trembly.

There's something quite special about a packed out Spotland. Supporters had certainly turned out in force, and it was the biggest Spotland crowd I've ever been involved in. In fact, it would appear to have been the biggest home crowd since January 1971. The place was rammed.

Surprisingly, there were several empty seats in the Darlington enclosure, with around 1600 having made the journey from the North East. Those that did make it were in fine voice throughout.

There was just the one change from last weekend with Stanton coming back to replace D'Laryea. Not a case of Dairylea getting dropped, just for the big games you want your big guns, and they don't come bigger than this. Unless you're Chris Casper.

We started like we'd been hypnotised, so pumped were we. It was if the instructions from Keith Hill was to secure the win in the first minute of the game, and then we can spend 89 minutes working out our travel plans.

And we were so very close to doing that. As just like the first leg, Chris Dagnall had the opening chance of the game. We were playing at a million miles an hour, and a pinpoint cross from the left from Adam Rundle was met by Daggers in the middle, but his header went narrowly over.

After than initial scare, the visitors started to come into it. There was clearly a contrast in styles operated by the sides. Darlo were understandably a lot more defensive minded, but they approached the game with bags of intelligence, and seemed happy to have our players running round like a set of Rottweilers chasing everything.

But that early Dagnall chance was our only real effort in those early stages, and Darlington were not only comfortable but pressing forward. They knew that a goal would put them in such a commanding position that they'd be almost Wembley bound.

And it happened. And controversial doesn't come close. A harmless ball was crossed into the Dale penalty box and was headed away by McArdle as he does time and time again.

However, the referee ruled that the contact on the edge of the box between Howe and former Bury player Jason Kennedy was sufficient for a penalty to be awarded. There was contact, but to call it minimal would be an exaggeration, and it was probably Kennedy's reaction that earned the spot kick.

Clark Keltie, who was a Perkins lookalike on his last visit to Spotland, stepped up and his penalty gave Lee no chance, with one of the best penalties that you'll see.

That goal certainly put them in the driving seat, and their songs about Wembley got that little bit louder.

But how many times have we been written off this season only to come back stronger? How many times have we gone behind in a game and then come away the victors? Write this club off at your peril.

And after Rene Howe won us a free kick down by the Police control room part of the pitch, we showed exactly why you should never mess with a wounded beast.

Adam Rundle fired in a low free kick, which offered too much for the Premiership bound youngster in the Darlo nets, who spilled it. With everyone piling in for the rebound, it was knocked in but nobody could tell who scored, but replays later have shown it to be an own goal by Darlo midfielder Ravenhill. We'll take that thank you very much.

Half time brought a change for us with Alfie coming on for Rene Howe, as Dale looked to attack Darlo with as much pace as we possibly could. Yet again, their defender Foster was exceptional at the back, and White was clearly targeted as the weak link.

But whilst we were hoping that the equaliser would inspire us to bigger and brighter things, it was Darlington who started the second half the better side, and they came close to regaining their lead within seconds of the restart.

Goalscorer Keltie fired in a twenty five yard strike which cannoned off the cross bar with Tommy Lee having no chance. Good job those posts had a new lick of paint for the cameras.

The controversy continued when their midfielder Ravenhill proved himself to be an absolute girl. As he brought the ball up the wing, he threw himself to the floor as Jonah approached. It's one thing trying to win a penalty with a dive, but this was just in the middle of nowhere. This proved to be one of the rare occasions that the ref got it right, and he booked him for his effort.

The game followed a very similar pattern to the first half. We were pushing forward at every opportunity, running round like we were from a Benny Hill sketch, whilst Darlington continued to be patient, and their defence limited us to very few efforts on goal.

Watches were checked with alarming regularity and the minutes were passing by with worrying ease. Darlington were holding on and were just ten minutes from Wembley.

And then it happened. The moment we'll remember for the rest of our lives. Having just had a penalty shout turned down, we were deep in their half. Perkins picked the ball up from just in front of the Darlo fans, cut inside and let rip.

*genuine going apeshit moment goes here*

It took a clear deflection off former Bury midfielder Jason Kennedy who had "won" the penalty earlier and hit the back of the net from about seven or eight yards outside the penalty box. Whatever happens in the future, we'll all have Perkins' goal as one of our finest Spotland memories. I'm getting goosebumps just thinking about it now.

We nearly wrapped things up a minute later when Darlo were forced to clear it off the line following a knock down from a corner. Had that gone in, there'd have been a sea of bodies in the Sandy Lane goalmouth.

Extra time loomed large, and so it proved to be the case.

The first period saw Darlington coming back into it. They were clearly the better side and whilst we considered they were there for the taking, they somehow found an extra edge and they came close on a couple of occasions, and we were grateful when we survived a couple of shouts for a penalty.

As the second period of extra time kicked off, I turned to some hair obsessed one who was stood next to me, and told him that the next twenty minutes could be the best twenty minutes or the worst twenty minutes of our lives.

Had there not been enough controversy already, we had more. Perkins went into a challenge with Ravenhill. There was little contact, and a yellow card would probably have been harsh. However, the reaction of Ravenhill and especially Foster reacted a situation out of nothing, and Beeby produced a red card. Perkins left the pitch visibly in tears. I have no doubt that the red card will be rescinded.

But what does not kill us only makes us stronger, and the ten men nearly snatched it when Alfie produced a sublime volley from wide out which clipped the roof of the net, but with both sides running now on fumes, penalties were always the likeliest option.

I'm not going to go through them all, but they were probably the best set of penalties you'll see, with every one of the highest quality.

Then up stepped Jason Kennedy who scored the stunning goal at their place. He opted to bury it down the middle. Lee had dived to his right but stuck out a foot and saved it. The place erupted.

So it all came down to Ben Muirhead. Possibly the most expensive shot in the history of this club of ours. If he scored, we were at Wembley. W-E-M-B-L-E-Y.

From my position, the ball went to the left, the keeper went to the right. The net bulged and for the next two minutes I was 12 years old jumping about, screaming my head off and hugging randoms. We'd done it. We'd come from two goals down, survived the sending off, and made it to Wembley.

Quite rightly so, all the warnings about keeping off the pitch were ignored, and we raced onto that pitch to celebrate our first real achievement in almost forty years. It'd had more certainly been a long time coming.

We've been accused of being arrogant in certain quarters, because we've mentioned the centenary and talking about it being fate that this year above any others being our year. Well after two deflections and an own goal, there's a few thousand people up in Darlington who might just be sharing that belief of ours.

There was rumours doing the rounds after the game that there was a game taking place at Wembley about 30 minutes after this one had finished. Was too busy celebrating. And those celebrations continued long after the game had finished, with cries of Que Sera Sera lasting way into Sunday.

So Wembley beckons. Geoff Hurst's hat trick, the White Horse, and Live Aid. We can add Dale to that list now.