Bristol Rovers 1-1 Grimsby Town (5-3 on penalties)

The 2015 promotion final was played out in front of a Conference record 47,029 fans at Wembley

Bristol Rovers beat Grimsby Town on penalties to win the Conference promotion final and secure an instant return to the Football League.

The Mariners went ahead inside the opening two minutes at Wembley thanks to Lenell John-Lewis' bundled finish.

Bristol Rovers forward Ellis Harrison then slammed home an equaliser.

And, after a goalless second half and extra-time period, Lee Mansell scored the winning penalty after Jon-Paul Pittman blazed his spot-kick over.

It means Bristol Rovers, relegated from the fourth tier for the first time in 94 years only 12 months ago, are the first side to bounce straight back up from the Conference since 2005.

Ellis Harrison scored his 14th goal of the season to get Bristol Rovers level against Grimsby

Under 37-year-old manager Darrell Clarke, they had recovered from picking up just one point from their first three matches of this campaign to launch a genuine title challenge, only losing out to champions Barnet on the final day of the season.

But they bounced back from that disappointment to register a 3-0 aggregate win over Forest Green in the play-off semi-finals, before again having to display great resilience to overturn an early deficit against the Mariners.

By contrast, Grimsby have been a non-league side since their relegation in 2010, and defeat by the Pirates marks their third successive play-off failure.

Jon-Paul Pittman had netted 10 times for Grimsby this season, but missed from the spot at Wembley

Paul Hurst's team had got off to a flying start in front of a Conference record crowd of 47,029 fans, going ahead after Nathan Arnold's driving run into the penalty area allowed John-Lewis to force the ball over the line at the second attempt.

The Mariners continued to press and Rovers goalkeeper Will Puddy survived a major scare when handling Ollie Palmer's shot outside the area, escaping with only a yellow card.

But Harrison, recalled after missing the semi-final second leg through suspension, lashed the ball in to restore parity after Grimsby had failed to clear Jake Gosling's corner.

Darrell Clarke could not prevent Bristol Rovers being relegated from League Two last season

The frantic, open nature of the first period could not be matched by a tense and nervy goalless second - a theme that continued throughout extra time.

After Rovers boss Clarke had opted to change goalkeepers for the shootout - bringing Steve Mildenhall on to face his former club - the first five penalties were then all successful.

But Pittman blasted his effort over the crossbar and, after a further two spot-kicks were converted, Mansell fired into the top corner to send Rovers back up to the Football League at the first time of asking.

Grimsby Town boss Paul Hurst told BBC Radio Humberside:

"Devastated would be a good word. It wasn't our day. No matter what I say here it doesn't change the fact that we've lost the game and lost out on promotion back to the Football League that we all desperately craved.

"They are worthy of winning promotion because of how well they've done over the course of the season so congratulations to Bristol Rovers and in particular Darrell (Clarke) who has done a fantastic job.

"It's just a shame that we have people driving back to Cleethorpes or a lot of others that are based around the country that we couldn't make it a party night for everyone.

"I thanked everyone and told them how proud I am of every single player and not just the ones that have been on the pitch today."