Arriving at Wembley on the tube, it seemed that nothing had changed. Loudmouth drunks on the tube getting lairy, massive queues to get out of the ticket office and police blocking the way everywhere. But looking outside the ticket office, the old walk up Wembley Way had a new destination - the twin towers replaced by a huge arch.
We decided to head straight up to the ground to take in the atmosphere (and find the gents). There were no queues when we arrived and it took about 5 minutes to get into the ground. Like most of the people around me, it took my breath away. Our seats were 12 rows from the front opposite the goal line and without the old dog track in the way, pretty close to the action.
By 2.15, the ground had filled nicely and the official attendance was given as 53,262. The rain had held off for our walk to the ground but we were treated to the spectacle of the sprinklers coming on as the rain started to pour down.
Having seen Stevenage earlier in the competition, I was keen to see how they would cope against a team in their own division, featuring an ex Wiltshire striker - James Constable, formerly of Chippenham Town and Walsall.
The first half belonged to Kidderminster - Constable capitalised on some poor defending to poke home the first goal after 32 minutes and slid across the turf to celebrate in front of us - this didn't go down well with the Stevenage fans who decided not to join in with the Kidderminster fans Mexican waves. Constable added a second goal 5 minutes later with a low shot from outside the box and it looked as if it would be game over for Stevenage.
I turned to Pete and said that it was nicely set up for a comeback and that I reckoned Stevenage would win 3.2 - no idea why as the bookies would have gladly taken my money on that one after the first half.
Mark Stimson's half time team talk seemed to galvanise his players and they started the second half with their heads up, unlike the Kidderminster players who looked nervous in trying to protect their lead. Mitchell Cole scored 6 minutes into the half when the ball was knocked down into his path and he hit it across the keeper and found the back of the net. Steve Guppy was looking tired and was replaced by Craig Dobson.
Dobson looked lively and scored a cracking second - a long pass from the back let him run onto the ball between two defenders and stretch his leg out to guide it past the keeper. Now it was all Stevenage and the Mexican waves were all coming from their fans. With a couple of minutes to go it looked like the game was heading for extra time when the ball was crossed from the right to Steve Morison. His first shot was saved by the keeper but he made no mistake from the rebound and the Stevenage end went crazy.
Kidderminster had one glorious chance in the last minute of injury time but they put it wide and my prediction came true - a 3.2 win for Stevenage. An entertaining final and one that was well worth paying £25 for - the most expensive ticket of the season to date.
After watching the teams collecting their medals and the Stevenage players bounce around the pitch we strolled back to the station and made our way back to Stevenage via the pub, a bus diversion and a curry house. Got to the local about 10 o clock in time to catch up with a Derby fan and find out that they had beaten Southampton in the day's early playoff game. Time for bed and another 'cup final' the following day.
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