Plymouth Argyle 1-1 Cheltenham Town (3-2 pens): Pilgrims reach Papa Johns Trophy final

Callum Burton has taken over as Argyle's number one after a season-ending injury to Michael Cooper

Plymouth Argyle beat Cheltenham Town 3-2 on penalties after a 1-1 draw in a thrilling Papa Johns Trophy semi-final at Home Park.

Callum Burton saved Cheltenham's final three penalties to send Argyle to Wembley for just the third time as fans invaded the pitch in celebration.

The Pilgrims had a 32nd-minute Danny Mayor effort disallowed for offside as they had the better of the chances in a goalless first half.

May gave Cheltenham the lead early in the second half after a defensive mix-up, but Argyle substitute Ryan Hardie provided a sublime equaliser 14 minutes later.

Hardie had an 83rd-minute goal chalked off for offside, Sam Cosgrove hit the Cheltenham post in the first minute of stoppage time, while May saw a 96th-minute long-range effort just go over the bar.

Having seen Elliot Bonds miss Cheltenham's fourth spot-kick, Jordan Houghton hit the bar with the chance to win it.

But May, who needed to score with the Robins' fifth effort, saw his weak shot saved by Burton and Argyle will face either Accrington Stanley or Bolton Wanderers in the final at Wembley on 2 April.

Bright opening by Plymouth

The Pilgrims started well as Mikel Miller - one of seven changes to their line-up - blazed a fifth-minute effort over the bar, having also seen a dangerous cross cut out by Charlie Raglan.

Cheltenham went close through a deflected Sean Long effort after 15 minutes, while May beat the offside trap a few minutes later, but opted to pass across the box and did not find the onrushing Taylor Perry.

Argyle had a 23rd-minute penalty claim waved away and Brendan Galloway was booked for a dive, but the hosts regained the upper hand in terms of possession and territory, although they struggled for a quality final ball.

Finn Azaz forced a good save from Luke Southwood, and two corners later they thought they had taken the lead when Mayor's flicked header found the net, but Matt Butcher impeded the keeper while in an offside position.

Southwood had to be at his best as he made excellent saves from Jordan Houghton and Miller in a spell that also saw Niall Ennis blaze a good chance over the Cheltenham bar from 15 yards.

Ryan Hardie's goal got Argyle back on level terms having gone a goal down

But it was Cheltenham who took the lead shortly after the interval as James Bolton and goalkeeper Burton failed to properly deal with a long ball under pressure from May and Aidan Keena was able to feed the Robins' top scorer, who calmly fired in a low strike.

Plymouth made a triple change soon after with striker Hardie one of those introduced, and he was aggrieved when he went down under a challenge from Charlie Raglan in the box after an hour which was waved away by the referee.

But Hardie was celebrating soon after as he controlled Callum Wright's cross on the edge of the area and took a couple of touches before hitting a deft curling effort over Southwood and into the net.

As the half wore on Argyle seemed to become more nervous as Cheltenham pressurised them into defensive errors and narrowly failed to create a decisive chance.

They were almost made to pay late on when Hardie tapped in Wright's shot only for the flag to go up, while Cosgrove rattled the upright with a fierce left-footed shot.

May almost won it with the final kick as his 40-yard effort narrowly floated over the Argyle bar before the match went to spot-kicks.

Hardie and Cosgrove scored Argyle's first two. matched by Liam Sercombe and Charlie Brown for Cheltenham.

Finn Azaz hit the post Argyle's third before Ryan Broom had his spot-kick saved by Burton.

Macauley Gillesphey converted Argyle's fourth before Burton saved Bonds' and May's efforts either side of Houghton hitting the bar.

A rare Wembley pilgrimage for Argyle

Victory for Argyle means just a third trip to Wembley in the club's 137-year history - and their first in a cup competition.

The Pilgrims last played at the home of English football in 2016 when they were beaten by AFC Wimbledon in the League Two play-off final.

Argyle's only Wembley victory came 20 years earlier when Ronnie Mauge's goal earned them a 1-0 win over Darlington in the old Third Division play-off final under the guidance of Neil Warnock.

Current Pilgrims boss Steven Schumacher was not born when Warnock first began managing.

The Liverpudlian, though, has Wembley experience - he was an unused substitute when Fleetwood Town won the League Two play-off final in 2014.

"It's a brilliant feeling," Schumacher told BBC Sport. "You don't get many opportunities in your career your to go to Wembley Stadium.

"It'll be only be the third time in the club's history and to be only the third manager to take the team there, I'm really proud of it.

"We've got one game to go and we'll give it our best shot in April."

Cheltenham Town manager Wade Elliott told BBC Radio Gloucestershire:

"I think they've given a good representation of what we are - hardworking, honest, committed, with a sprinkling of quality in there as well.

"I've just said to them that I couldn't be more proud of them. They'll pick their phones up now and all their families will be watching either in the stadium or at home, and regardless of the outcome they'll all be super proud of them as well.

"I've been there, I've lost a semi-final, I know how they feel, the only the people who know how they feel is their mates sat next to them so go get around each other.

"I'm gutted I can't give them Wembley, but we can do now is focus all our efforts in staying in League One."