SWINDON Town booked a dream trip to Wembley as they overcame Sheffield United in an unbelievable League One play-off semi-final second leg this evening.

A feast of attacking football and lacklustre defending saw the two sides play out a 5-5 thriller at the County Ground but it is Town who progress to meet Preston in the final on May 24 courtesy of their 2-1 win at Bramall Lane last Thursday.

This result will go down in history as one of the most famous nights ever at the County Ground and Mark Cooper's men will now be flying high as they chase down a place in the Championship.

Town’s night’s work looked to be done and dusted inside 18 minutes as they swept into a 3-0 lead courtesy of Ben Gladwin’s double and a Michael Smith goal but the Blades got back into it before the break through an unfortunate Nathan Thompson own goal and Chris Basham’s header.

Smith pulled Town further clear from the penalty spot on the hour mark but that was soon cancelled out by a Steven Davies strike.

Jon Obika then looked to have kicked off the celebrations when he made it 5-3 on the night and 7-4 on aggregate with five minutes to go but the Blades silenced the County Ground through a quickfire double from Matt Done and Che Adams.

The action did not stop in seven minutes of end-to-end stoppage time but Town held firm to see the job through a kick-off mass celebrations at SN1.

Town got off to a dream start when Gladwin broke the deadlock with just four minutes on the clock. Nathan Byrne’s floated cross was only half headed clear by Jay McEveley and Gladwin waited for the dropping ball on the edge of the box before volleying goalwards, with a slight deflection taking the shot past United keeper Mark Howard.

Gladwin then got his and Town’s second on the 10-minute mark, again making the most of another Byrne cross. Sam Ricketts’ initial delivery was poorly dealt with by Bob Harris and Byrne nipped in to get the ball and cross to the unmarked Gladwin at the back post to tap in.

Even in Town’s wildest dreams they could not have imagined being 3-0 up inside 20 minutes, but that is exactly what they were when Smith was next to strike. Again United's defending was woeful as Smith was able to shake off Kieron Freeman too easily from a Byrne cross before swivelling and firing past Howard and putting one Swindon foot in the door at Wembley.

But the Blades refused to give in and hauled one back immediately from the kick-off. United attacked at pace, working the ball into the box where a Jamie Murphy shot took a massive deflection off Town skipper Thompson and into the net for an unfortunate own goal.

The game continued to remain open but fans had to wait another 20 minutes for another goal. This time it was another one for the visitors as they reduced the deficit to one on the night and two overall. Harris crossed into the box and Basham charged forwards to throw himself at the ball and power a header past Wes Foderingham to give his side a glimmer of hope at the break.

Play continued to go from end to end at the start of the second half but Town were able to ease their nerves from the penalty spot. Jermaine Hylton chased a long ball over the top and Howard rushed from his line to gather but only succeeded in bringing down the Town striker. The Blades keeper escaped with a yellow card but saw his side’s deficit increase when Smith rifled the penalty past him.

Town were not able to breathe easy for long, though, as again the Blades’ response was instant. Harris sent another cracking ball into the box and Davies leapt to power and even better header past Foderingham to cut the gap.

The home side thought they were finally able to crack open the champagne with five minutes to go as Obika got their fifth of the night. The Swindon striker was given acres of space down the right and sauntered up the flank and into the box before cutting inside McEveley and toe-poking past Howard.

But again the Blades refused to accept defeat and three excellent saves from Foderingham was not enough as Done lashed in from close range before Adams levelled things up on the night when he cut in from the right before unleashing an unstoppable shot past the Town keeper from 25 yards to haul the visitors level on the night.

The teams then played out a pulsating – and seemingly never-ending – period of stoppage time but Town held firm to book a place at Wembley and move a step closer to winning a spot in English football’s second tier for the first time in 15 years.

SWINDON TOWN: Foderingham, Stephens, N Thompson (capt) (Obika 57), Turnbull, Byrne, Kasim, Luongo, Gladwin (Branco 90+4), Ricketts, Hylton (Rodgers 62), Smith. Subs not used: Belford T, Barthram, Marshall, Randall.

SHEFFIELD UNITED: Howard, Freeman, McEveley (capt), Alcock, Harris, Coutts, Basham, Flynn (Adams 85), Murphy, Done, McNulty (Davies 60). Subs not used: Turner, Doyle, McGahey, Davies, Holt.

Referee: Keith Hill

Attendance: 13,065 (1,792)