Salford City forced their way into the League Two play-off final at Wembley after they beat a resurgent Grimsby Town in extra time of their semi-final second leg.

The hosts took the lead, and what had seemed a commanding 3-1 aggregate advantage, seven minutes into the second half when Dan Udoh volleyed home from close range.

Grimsby set up a tense finale as they hit back with an equaliser from Kieran Green's header with 17 minutes of normal time remaining while Jaze Kebia tapped in to send the visitors ahead on the night and level on aggregate.

However, there was controversy with both goals as the first appeared to go in off Kebia's elbow, and the second was a close offside call.

Extra time proved to be predictably nervy, but Kallum Cesay bundled home from close range to send the Ammies through in the 117th minute.

Victory for Karl Robinson's side keeps alive their hopes of promotion to the third tier after they missed out on a top three spot on the final day of the regular season.

Having gone up to the English Football League in 2019, Salford's closest run to League Two promotion came in 2023 when they reached the play-off semi-final stage and were beaten by Stockport County.

The Ammies will face Notts County at Wembley in the final on Monday, 25 May, after the Magpies beat Chesterfield 1-0 on aggregate in their semi-final.

An edgy opening 20 minutes saw Salford spurn the chance to go ahead, as Kelly N'Mai's well-timed through ball in the Grimsby box was wasted by Ryan Graydon's tame strike.

Other than that moment, there was little for either set of supporters to get excited about in a tepid first half but the second came alive soon after kick-off.

Salford's opener came when Grimsby failed to pick Udoh up at a corner as he latched onto a loose ball and drove home his volley from a tight angle.

The hosts then should have wrapped the tie up minutes later when Ade Oluwo's header from Luke Garbutt's corner cannoned off the post.

Grimsby did not sit back and pulled themselves back into the tie thanks to Green's impressive header at the near post.

Replays showed that Kabia appeared to make contact with the ball with his elbow before it went in, however the incident was not pulled up.

Kabia was in the mix again as he sent them level on aggregate just five minutes later, and his goal stood despite replays showing that he may have made his run beyond the Salford defence too soon as the ball was played into him.

And so extra time beckoned, but with little to separate the sides and with penalties fast approaching, the ball fell kindly for Cesay, who managed to beat the Grimsby back line, race into the box and finish coolly to send them through.

Cesay has now scored in successive games after drawing his side level against Grimsby in the first leg, having spent much of the latter half of the season out through injury.