Aldershot's first visit to Wembley ends in glory

Long wait over on sun-kissed afternoon as Whitstable triumph in the Vase final

- Simon Burnton

It took Aldershot 99 years and two football clubs to reach Wembley and for almost exactly as many minutes on a sun-kissed May afternoon they made themselves entirely at home there, outnumbering their opponents in the stands and outplaying them on the pitch on their way to claiming their first FA Trophy.

Second-half goals from Jack Barham, Dan Ellison and Josh Barrett earned the National League side a 3-0 win over Spennymoor Town of the National League North, and secured for their manager, Tommy Widdrington, a dream end to a season temporarily derailed when he had two strokes in November. Widdrington was back in the dugout in less than two months having acquired, as he put it in the buildup to this game, "a certain sense of perspective". This was an excellent, mature performance, whatever way you look at it.

"People will forget about me. That's what happens in football. But they'll never forget how I've made them feel, how my team's made them feel," Widdrington said. "Football's a tough old industry. It kicks you up the backside a lot more than it pats you on the back. I'm going to enjoy being patted on the back the next few days."