FA Trophy Final.

If 

North Ferriby are known as The Villagers, and the two notable landmarks in the locality would appear to be a big church spire and acres of vegetable allotments. On entering the ground we were encouraged to buy half-time draw tickets, where I imagine the prize was an empty carrier bag and the chance to do your own allotment dash out the back.  there is ample street parking on the side-roads close to the ground. The nearest railway station is Ferriby, which is on the Leeds/Doncaster to Hull line, and is conveniently situated around five minutes walk from the ground. My spies tell me there is a decent pub in the vicinity if you’re coming by train too.Inside, the layout of the ground sees a small amount of uncovered flat hardstanding behind each goal, and the ‘developed stuff’ down each side of the pitch. On the far side across from the entrance, is the structure pictured above and below, which covers the entire length of the pitch. It has stepped terracing at each end, and a couple of seated sections in the centre near the halfway line. It’s impressively sized, with the only drawback being that the seating is all very low down, so any passing spectators tend to obscure your view of the pitch when they’re walking past, no matter where you sit.At the opposite side are the dugouts, with various club and social rooms behind them, and a small amount of covered terracing as pictured below.There is also uncovered hardstanding running the length of this side, and at one end it is raised a few feet above pitch level, giving a nice elevated view of proceedings if the weather is fine. North Ferriby also have a small club shop, with a cupboard containing programmes and the like, and a table out the front selling the largest selection of pin badges from various other clubs that I’ve ever come across, apart from dedicated badge dealers.

Said match was on Sunday at Wembley and featured Conference National side Wrexham from Wales and Conference North club North Ferriby United from Humberside.

Wrexham, as the more senior club, started as favourites and breezed into a 2-0 lead which they held until 14 minutes from the end - then it all went a bit bonkers.

In the space of 10 minutes, the Villagers had drawn level and forced extra-time.

The part-timers then had the audacity to go 3-2 up but with only two minutes of the game remaining the Dragons drew level to salvage a shoot-out.

The teams line up for the national anthems

This also went on and on as several players missed their kicks before North Ferriby finally prevailed 5-4 on penalties. 

I took a number of friends - some of whom had never been to a football match and some who had no non-league experience but they all left the stadium buzzing. 

One of the newbies, primarily there to escort her kids, was all but pulling her hair out during the shoot-out.

Another claimed that he wasn't usually that bothered about football because most people he knew only watched it on TV and he couldn't get into it at all but the live experience was so much more engaging and would definitely return. There must be many more like him, we've just got to get them into the grounds.

It must surely be a contender for best FA Trophy Final of all time and one of the best of any kind of final that Wembley has hosted, it was that good. The only downside was that only 14,585 turned out to watch it.

This wasn't a great shock though - most neutrals have probably never heard of North Ferriby, the club itself come from a village of less than 4,000 inhabitants, Brazil were playing Chile over at Arsenal and the weather was pretty abysmal. Adult tickets were also £30 which if you're not interested in either team is highly likely to put you off - it was a reason I heard many times from supporters who told me they would not be going.

If that can be addressed and a couple of other tweaks can be made here and there, I genuinely believe the FA Trophy could become a much bigger event which the whole non-league and wider football community could embrace. If the FA invite us (the Non-League Day team) to participate again, which I hope they do, then I believe we could make it a really great day out.Goalkeeper Adam Nicklin was the hero as North Ferriby United came back from two goals down to beat Wrexham on penalties and win the FA Trophy.

Louis Moult and Jay Harris strikes had given the Welsh side a commanding 2-0 lead by the hour mark.

But Liam King's penalty gave United hope and substitute Ryan Kendall equalised late in normal time.

Kendall's header then made it 3-2 before Moult's stunning strike set up a shoot-out, which Ferriby won 5-4.

The penalties had gone to sudden death when Nicklin saved Steve Tomassen's penalty to cap a remarkable comeback by the East Yorkshire part-timers and secure their first FA Trophy.

North Ferriby - a community with a population of just under 4,000 - started as massive underdogs. The Conference North side were a division and 18 places below their Welsh opponents and were roared on by more than 3,000 supporters among the 14,585 Wembley crowd.

The Villagers, who lost the 1997 FA Vase final at the old Wembley, made a bright start, but Wrexham took the lead when Joe Clarke and Connor Jennings combined to set up Moult, who swept home from six yards.

North Ferriby's forays into the Wrexham half were rare, but a breakaway from Danny Clarke forced Andy Coughlin to come off his line to make a save.

Jason St Juste, who opted to miss St Kitts and Nevis's 2018 World Cup qualifier against the Turks and Caicos Islands so he could feature at Wembley, caused problems for the Wrexham defence early in the second half and Coughlin had to save at the winger's feet before Blaine Hudson cleared the danger.

Jennings should have doubled Wrexham's lead after he rounded Nicklin but his shot was cleared off the line by Danny Hone before Harris returned from touchline injury treatment to oblige on 59 minutes.

The midfielder found himself unmarked on the right flank and hit a shot from the edge of the area that beat Nicklin at the near post.

With Wrexham in control North Ferriby were awarded a penalty with 15 minutes remaining.Coughlin was booked for upending Clarke and captain King struck his penalty high into the roof of the net to give his side a lifeline.

The goal gave Billy Heath's side confidence. With four minutes left, St Juste's cross from the left wing was met by Kendall to level the scores, and Coughlin then had to tip over Clarke's curling effort in the final moments just to keep Wrexham alive into extra time.

North Ferriby started the additional period as they had finished the 90 minutes and the impressive St Juste's deflected cross found Kendall, whose downward header beat Coughlin to give North Ferriby the lead for the first time.

Substitute Andy Bishop was denied by Hone's perfectly timed tackle before Moult rescued Wrexham with a stunning strike two minutes from the end of extra time to take the game to penalties.

Wrexham manager Kevin Wilkin told BBC Radio Wales: "I'm gutted. We had a great opportunity to put ourselves in the driving seat and to give the game away like we have, I feel we've left people down today.

"There were no issues, but then we started dropping off and getting deep again. We didn't defend crosses, we didn't get tight to people and gave them time and space. But credit to North Ferriby, they stuck to their work.

"I'm here to do a job. I've worked hard at it, had a couple of great cup runs but the league form hasn't been exactly where we need it to be. There's been a lot of changes, and we need to keep pushing that on for Wrexham."