|Walking towards the ground, we realised this wouldn't be any run-of-the-mill game. I had missed most of the social media stuff around the game in the preceding few days as I was too busy doing other things. I had been vaguely aware that the club had been trying to stoke up enthusiasm amongst the supporters, and boy, had it worked! We soon came across a rather rowdy but good-natured bunch of youngsters who had clearly been drinking for some time, and they spotted a small group of Baggies fans walking just behind us towards the ground. A fair amount of banter followed.

As we walked up the road towards the Chapel end, the noise was pretty intense, and there was the distinctive smell of flares in the air. The pulse definitely quickened then.

When we got to our seats, the noise was just non-stop, and there was a particularly good interview with an ex-player, whom we missed the name of, yet we all recognised him. Some time passed before the penny dropped; it was Mark Dennis. I should have guessed!! He turned the interview into a real call-to-arms speech and even managed to work in a reference to the blue few down the road. It had the desired effect. Top stuff.

When the players eventually emerged from the tunnel, the noise levels went through the roof, and you could hardly hear yourself think. I am sure that I have never heard anything like it at St.Mary's before, at least not in such a sustained way.

Saints were on the front foot straight away, with Harwood-Bellis lofting a pass over the midfield and dropping right in front of Brooks, who surged into the area only to be dragged down by Townsend. The referee waved away claims for a penalty, but the Saints fans were not impressed. Nor was Martin, who could be seen in a very animated discussion with the fourth official.

The home side were passing the ball around confidently, and it wasn't long before they fashioned another chance. Harwood-Bellis made another accurate, long pass forward, finding Adam Armstrong on the far right side of the box. Hardley breaking his stride, he crossed to the onrushing Brooks, who could not quite control the ball and hit the side netting.

The first quarter of an hour had just flashed past, and still the noise was unbelievable.

West Brom then had an attack of their own down the right flank. I thought Fellowes was crossing for one of the forwards, but it drifted towards the far top corner and the alert McCarthy tipped it over, conceding the corner. Fortunately, the corner came to nothing.

The rest of the half was a game of cat and mouse as both sides tried not to make a mistake. Brooks had one shot from distance, but it was easily saved.

So, halftime came, and the game was still goalless.

How many times in the latter half of this season have we seen Saints play well in the first half and then come out from the break playing worse? It didn't happen today. They came out playing as though their very lives were at stake.

The first attack ended with Walker-Peters shooting fractionally wide. West Brom worked the ball patiently forward from the resulting goal-kick, but Smallbone had none of it and took it from them, passing it forward to Brooks on the right touchline. He strode forward but, aware of Will continuing his run, pushed the ball to his left through a crowd of players. Smallbone strode on and unleashed a powerful shot that flashed past the keeper guarding the near post into the top left corner of the net. GOAL! 1-0

To say the noise went up several notches was an understatement. The floor of the Kingsland stand was bouncing, and I can't remember that happening more than a couple of times since we moved to St.Mary's in 2001.

The Baggies had to go for it now, and they put Saints under sustained pressure for several minutes, with first McCarthy forced to punch clear and then having to make a jumping save when the ball was launched goalwards while under pressure from Kipré, their big centre-half. On his way back down to the ground, he lost control of the ball but managed to fall on it before Kipré could react.

Then came another penalty claim. Kipré, under no pressure, played the ball back to his keeper, but Adam Armstrong came racing in like a little rocket and almost caught Palmer out; he cleared upfield and, under the pressure, was off-balance and fell over. The ball only travelled as far as Aribo, who passed forward to his right, where Brooks was racing in. Under control and now deep in the area, he was unceremoniously upended by Kipré with a very impressive-looking scissor kick. The Ref, Tim Robinson, waved away any appeals for a penalty. Once again, the crowd and Martin were not impressed.

There was still only one goal in it, and West Brom made a triple substitution with M'Vila, Thomas-Asante and Swift replacing Yokuşlu, Wallace and Diangama. Martin responded by taking off Fraser, who had run himself into the ground, and replacing him with Edozie. Before the latter switch could be completed, McCarthy made an amazing two-handed save from Furlong. Phew! Still 1-0.

Then, in the blink of an eye, the crucial second goal arrived. Downes made a spectacular run up the middle of the pitch, with the blue and white striped shirts parting like the Red Sea. He flicked the ball to his left where Adam Armstrong was approaching the edge of the Baggies area on the left. He adjusted slightly and sent a shot across the face of the goal and beyond Palmer's reach into the far corner. GOAL! 2-0.

The relief of tension was palpable, and with only ten minutes plus time added, it felt like that was it. And the crowd went wild? Of course. they did.

Still, West Brom kept coming. A huge, over-the-top pass from their own half found Reach at full stretch and beyond his markers, but he could only shoot wide. The game was slipping away from them.

Then, from a wonderful pass by Walker-Peters under pressure and deep in his own half, Stephens went on a run down the pitch. It was three on three, but just as it looked as if Stephens looked as if he was running out of steam and ideas, Manning appeared down the left, running like a man possessed. From within the D, Stephens slid the ball left to Manning. Immediately, he was taken out by two defenders, and the referee had no hesitation in pointing to the spot. PENALTY!

With less than five minutes of normal time remaining, Adam Armstrong took the ball and calmly walked to the penalty spot. The whistle went, and Armstrong sent the ball to the right. The goalie dived the right way, but the ball was already in the net. GOAL! 3-0.

Surely that was it now? The crowd thought so and started the celebrations.

The referee added several minutes at the end of 90 minutes, but I missed exactly how many (Yes, I was celebrating), and almost while nobody was watching, West Brom won a corner from which Kipré headed the ball beyond McCarthy. I know that goal didn't change anything, but feck me, that was irritating.

The referee blew for time very shortly after, and that was definitely that. Saints would play Leeds at Wembley on Sunday, 26th May, for a place in the Premier League.

Man of the Match

Are you joking? The whole team, but if you had to push me, probably Adam Armstrong or Will Smallbone, but I couldn't choose between them. A brilliant team performance on a wonderful evening.