When the referee blew his whistle to signal the end of the five minutes of added time Hitchin could celebrate the perfect end to a memorable season. A hard fought 2-1 victory over an excellent Bigglewade team meant Hitchin will be back playing premier division football next season gaining promotion at the first attempt. Manager Michael Jones and his management team deserve the highest praise for their achievement after two seasons of struggle and the whole playing squad have stepped up to the plate to achieve the dream of promotion. The supporters deserve to be praised too as their incredible backing through the season has been a massive boost to the team. It is almost better to gain promotion through the play-offs than by winning the championship as the drama and excitement and massive crowds in the semi-final and final are pure theatre and leave lasting memories.

Play-off finals will invariably be tense affairs and not be classic games but Hitchin and Biggleswade both played good football in an absorbing game that saw both sides give everything to the cause. There was an incredible atmosphere at Top Field as a remarkable sell out crowd of 3,027 packed in to the iconic ground.

Team news for Hitchin was that 31 goal Tyler Rhiney had not recovered from injury and Kav Cotter also missed out but Liam Brooks returned to the bench. The only change from the semi-final saw Fernando Bell-Toxtle replace George Morrall. There were four ex- Canaries in the Biggleswade squad in Lawrie and Alex Marsh, Bradley Bell and Temi Akinbusoye. Biggleswade made a fast start and after just four minutes Tyler McGregor made a good save from Sonny Brown. In reply Kye Tearle shot wide before Hitchin suffered a major blow when Charlie Briggs had to be substituted after nine minutes with Toby Syme the replacement.

Hitchin made the breakthrough after nineteen minutes . A short corner from Callum Nicolson saw Tearle produce a high cross that led to a Ciaren Jones header being cleared off the line but Bell-Toxtle was there to put in the rebound. Nicolson then produced a good piece of defending before passing to Bell-Toxtle who tried to set up Lewis Franklin but the ball was just too hard hit. Josh Coldicott-Stevens had a shot saved as did Josh Jackman as Hitchin enjoyed a good period. However Daniel Bond then shot wide from a good position when he should have done better to show Biggleswade still posed a threat. Bell-Toxtle had Hitchin's last chance of the first half but shot wide.

Hitchin deserved their lead at half time but they knew they could not relax in the second half. Tearle had a shot deflected for a corner but on 57 minutes Hitchin doubled their lead with a goal that has been seen so many times this season. A perfectly delivered corner from Nicolson to the back post was firmly headed home by Jones to cue delirium in the crowd. Biggleswade reacted to this set-back by making a quadruple substitution and began to pressure Hitchin. Akinbusoye missed a good opportunity before on 70 minutes Nicolson brought down Michael Simpson and Alex Marsh held his nerve to score the penalty. So with twenty minutes to go it was going to be a nervy time for Hitchin. Both sides looked for another breakthrough with Biggleswade throwing everything at Hitchin. A Nicolson cross was just too long for Jackman but in injury time a brilliant move between Nicolson and Franklin ended with Franklin's shot agonisingly hitting the post. Then a minute later Franklin was cynically brought down but to everybody's surprise no red card was produced.

But the final whistle was the cue for the celebrations to start in earnest. It is not really fair to pick out one player but Ciaren Jones deserves particular praise as he has led from the front as captain all season and as well as his excellent defending has been a regular goal scorer and a great ambassador for the club. It was a season that began at Hadley In August and saw Hitchin score over 100 goals, have the best defensive record and the highest average crowd. Nobody could argue that they did not deserve to join Leighton Town in being promoted. It has been a reset season for Hitchin and the togetherness that has been engendered between the players and supporters can only help propel the club forward.

Finally I feel I should remember Paul Harris aka Pipeman. I had the unenviable task of taking over match reporting duties from Pipeman during the season and I know how proud and delighted he would have been to see Hitchin gain promotion.