Sheffield Wednesday's dramatic late winner at the end of extra-time against Barnsley in the play-off final sealed the Owls' return to the Championship and in the process ended another thoroughly entertaining League One season.

With the final between the two South Yorkshire clubs seemingly heading for penalties, Josh Windass won it for Wednesday at Wembley - incredibly emulating his father Dean - who scored the winner for Hull City in the Championship play-off final 15 years ago.

Sensational semi-final recovery 

The Owls had finished third in the regular season, behind champions Plymouth Argyle and Ipswich, so they will argue they deserve to join the Pilgrims and Town in the second tier next term and few could begrudge Darren Moore's side after they produced a stunning comeback in the second leg of their play-off semi-final against Peterborough.

Trailing 4-0 from the first game, and with nobody giving them any realistic chance of progressing to the final, Wednesday somehow won the second clash 5-1 at Hillsborough and then made it through to Wembley on penalties. 

That unlikely turnaround was the game of the season in League One as the play-offs followed on from a tightly-contested promotion race which, by the end of the campaign, saw just five points separating the top three.

Plymouth edged out Ipswich in title race

Plymouth, who are 28/1 To Be Promoted to the Premier League next season, were crowned champions after winning 31 of their 46 games and the Pilgrims broke the 100-point barrier to edge out Ipswich, who finished three points behind in second on 98 to claim the second automatic promotion spot.  

The Tractor Boys are rated 6/1 To Be Promoted next season, while Wednesday are 10/1 to go on and make it back-to-back promotions. 

Stepping up to the Championship will be a tough challenge for all three clubs, though, and Plymouth have already been installed as favourites To Be Relegated at 13/8, while Wednesday are 4/1 to go straight back down next season and Ipswich are 8/1.

Wembley woe for Barnsley 

It was nearly a season to remember for Barnsley who pushed the Owls all the way at Wembley and they deserve credit for almost taking the final to penalties after having Adam Phillips controversially sent off early in the second half. 

The Reds, who finished fourth after 46 games, will take stock over the summer before preparing to launch another promotion bid next season with Michael Duff's side 10/3 To Be Promoted in 2023-24 and 10/1 to Win League One Outright.  

Barnsley had beaten Bolton in their play-off semi, narrowly going through 2-1 on aggregate thanks to a 1-0 second-leg win at home after the first leg had ended 1-1 at the University of Bolton Stadium. 

After coming close, Wanderers are another side who will be determined to be involved in the promotion picture next season and they are expected to compete towards the top again, as their 8/1 odds in the To Win Outright market reflect. 

League Two beckons for relegated quartet 

The regular season ended in agony for Derby as they missed out on a place in the top six by just a point but at least the Rams will get the chance to go again in League One next term, unlike Forest Green, Accrington, Morecambe and MK Dons, who all suffered the ultimate despair of relegation. 

Forest Green finished bottom and were cut adrift and consigned to League Two as early as 15th April when they were hammered 5-1 at home by Barnsley, but the other three were all fighting for their lives right up until the end. 

On a dramatic final day of the season in the relegation scrap, MK Dons' 0-0 draw at Burton wasn't enough to save them, Morecambe's 3-2 defeat at Exeter also sealed their fate, while Stanley went down despite a 2-1 win at Oxford. 

Cambridge and Oxford were both relieved to survive - the former finishing just a point clear of the dropzone with the latter ending the season two points above the bottom four.

bet365 News Team

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