Leyton Orient manager Richie Wellens hailed his team as outstanding after they survived a penalty shootout to reach the Sky Bet League One play-off final.
The Londoners prevailed 4-1 on spot-kicks after an absorbing semi-final with Stockport ended 3-3 on aggregate following a hard-fought 1-1 draw at Edgeley Park on Wednesday.
Orient, who will now play Charlton or Wycombe at Wembley, are potentially just one game away from returning to the second tier for the first time since 1982.
Wellens said: “We’ve been absolutely outstanding. We had to give a little bit of everything.
“Our play in the first 15 minutes was very good, but there were mixed emotions because we were a bit naive and Stockport were better at times. We didn’t play well on the counter.
“But they didn’t beat us over two legs and it was our 60th game. Only Champions League teams play 60 games.
“I think if you come here, play an extra 30 minutes away from home, and have to take penalties at their end – I think ultimately we deserve to get where we’ve got.”
Orient qualified for the play-offs in sixth spot after a late charge that saw them win their last six matches of the regular season.
Wellens said: “It’s not just the last six games – in the last 30 games of the regular season, no one has got more points than us, other than Birmingham. This is not a fluke.
“This club nearly went out of business six, seven years ago. When I came in, we were 20th in League Two.
“Now we’re one game away from an unbelievable level for this football club.”
Orient led after a third-minute strike from Ollie O’Neill but Stockport deservedly levelled through Isaac Olaofe and spurned several chances in normal time and extra time to win the tie.
Manager Dave Challinor said: “We’re obviously disappointed. That was always going to be the case unless we achieved the ultimate prize for us.
“I’m super proud of where we got to and what we’ve done.
“We probably, for the first 15 minutes, looked a little a little bit edgy but we managed to get through that period.
“We had two opportunities to have our moment and haven’t taken them, and once it goes to penalties – I wouldn’t say anything can happen because I believed in the work we’ve done over the past two or three weeks would give us the best chance – unfortunately it was not to be for us.
“But we have to take the positives. It is a case of our season being over but we’ll move on.”
