And now you're gonna believe us... The Whites are going up!

Saturday May 10th 2014. What a day. A day that will live long in the memories of many a Dover Athletic fan. The reason?

We got PROMOTED!

Over 1,000 of us packed into Stonebridge Road's Swanscombe End to see our beloved team take on our bitter rivals Ebbsfleet United in the Skrill South Promotion Final, not knowing whether come 5 o'clock it'd end in tears good or bad. Go with no expectation was the thought in my head - I felt the same way as I did prior to our semi final win at Sutton; "Whatever happens is a bonus". But it was fate, at the end of the day, that it would be Dover vs Ebbsfleet in this final. Way back at the beginning of the season, Whites fans predicted this one, even when it looked like our playoff hopes were dashed - several times - we crept into that 5th place spot and took the bull by the horns. All the way to the final showdown in a winner takes all clash.

Glorious sunshine on arrival at Stonebridge Road

Over 1,000 travelling Dover fans in the uncovered Swanscombe End

It was always going to be a single goal that would decide the winner - there were no doubts on that. Just which way it would go we weren't too sure. The first half wasn't pretty by any means, but the team kept compact enough to shut out the Fleet's chances and we went into half time still 0-0, with us travelling fans drenched from the rain that had been forecast; the dark clouds rolled in and the rain struck with a vengeance by 3:30pm. We were soaked but our moods weren't dampened.

We got drenched but it was worth it in the end!

We all know the team plays better away than they do at Crabble so any nerves that still remained going into the second half soon disappeared when our boys took the lead just over 10 minutes into the half thanks to Nathan Elder. Cue delirium in the away end! Bonkers. Absolute madness. I don't think any of us couldn't believe we were leading after such a poor first half but the team then pushed on for another - various chances came and went (some closer than others) and the Fleet players themselves tried to conjure up a way of getting back into the tie. That was to no avail as our goalie ("England's number 1" we sing, in reference to his England C Squad call ups) Mitch Walker pulled off some fantastic saves to stem the hosts and keep our dreams very much alive.

The four minutes that were added on felt like the longest of our lives. Tears were flowing before the final whistle and as the referee blew for full time, the celebrations began. In the pouring rain, once again getting drenched, but we didn't care. We'd won the promotion final and we were going up! Back to the Conference Premier (one league below League Two) where we'll now face teams like Bristol Rovers (HA!) next season. It's just incredible to think that three weeks ago we all thought the playoff dream was over, but the team has done so wonderfully well and you can tell what it means to all of our squad, the management, the fans. Everybody is ecstatic.

WE ARE GOING UP SAY WE ARE GOING UP!

So on to next season now and it should be an exciting one; lots of new clubs, grounds and places to visit and hopefully a few weekenders chucked in from time to time as well. I also hope to continue my writing for the club - getting the privilege to write the match report for the promotion final and have us actually win the final is probably one of the proudest moments yet. It certainly beats having to report on our promotion final heartache from last year...!

"Who put the ball in the Ebbsfleet net? Who put the ball in the Ebbsfleet net? Who put the ball in the Ebbsfleet net? Super Nathan Elder! Super super Nath, super super Nath, super super Nath, Super Nathan Elder!"