Alloa Athletic 4-3 Brechin City AET (penalties 4-5)

Brechin City prevailed from a thrilling two-legged play-off battle to reach the Scottish Championship

James Dale scored the winning penalty as Brechin City won promotion to the Scottish Championship.

City's victory elevates them to the second tier for the first time since 2006, despite finishing fourth in League One, 12 points behind Alloa.

Dale had put Brechin two ahead on aggregate but a Greig Spence double put the tie in the balance by half-time.

Paul McLean and Liam Watt scored after the break for Brechin but Spence then Dylan Mackin dragged Alloa level.

Spence, who should have been the Alloa hero with his hat-trick, missed in the shoot-out, but so did Andy Jackson of Brechin, which meant sudden death.

Iain Flannigan struck the post with his effort, leaving Dale to complete a glorious evening for Darren Dods and his men.

After the play-off final first leg finished 1-0 in Brechin's favour at Glebe Park, the return fixture proved remarkable throughout.

It looked like the tie had taken a significant turn in City's favour when Dale curled a spectacular effort over Neil Parry and into the top corner from 25 yards.

That gave them a two-goal advantage on aggregate, to the delight of the couple of hundred visiting supporters.

But within a minute, Alloa had a lifeline when Brechin's central defender McLean dived to his left to stop Mackin's goal-bound shot with his arm.

McLean escaped with a yellow card but Spence sent Graeme Smith the wrong way from the penalty spot to resurrect home hopes of turning the tie around.

Greig Spence scored a hat-trick for Alloa, but missed his spot-kick after extra-time

And Alloa's top scorer, restored to the starting line-up having been on the bench for the first leg, levelled things as he glanced in Scott Taggart's pinpoint cross just before the break.

There was to be a further twist, though. McLean, having been allowed to stay on the park after the penalty incident, forced the ball over the line from a Brechin corner, to once again give his side the edge.

But Spence wasn't about to give up his place in the headlines and promptly rounded off a fabulous Alloa move with an overhead kick past Smith to seal his treble.

With the game edging towards extra-time, Brechin produced a superbly-crafted goal of their own to regain the advantage, with Watt cutely clipping the ball over the keeper and into the net.

Again, though, there was a swift response from the home team - an emphatic header from Mackin squaring the tie once more.

Darren Dods has guided Brechin City into Scotland's second tier for the first time in 11 years

A fraught period of extra-time brought no further goals. Both sides had progressed to the final on penalties and it felt a fitting way in which to decide such a closely-fought two-legged encounter.

Ultimately, Brechin came out on top, consigning Alloa to another season of League One football.

Brechin City manager Darren Dods: "We were the underdogs going into the play-offs, against Raith Rovers, we came through that, and against Alloa coming here.

"All credit to Alloa, they kept clawing us back, but we never gave up, we had injuries and boys cramping up, but we hung in there and won - it's an amazing achievement.

"For Brechin, the smallest town in Angus, to get there with this group of players, probably the smallest squad in the league, it's unbelievable effort from the players that's got us there."

Alloa Athletic manager Jim Goodwin: "The boys are absolutely devastated as you can imagine. It's probably as low a point in my career as I can remember in 20 years of being a professional. I've suffered relegations in the past and other disappointments but this probably tops the lot.

"The team have done so well for the majority of the season. I think we were the second best team in the league. But we know going into the play-offs, league form counts for nothing.

"To score four goals at home, you think that's got to be enough but the goals against are disappointing. But I'd like to congratulate Darren Dods and his staff and players and we wish Brechin well in the Championship."