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Semi final playoff results from the National League, North and South

The semi final playoff results from the National League, North and South are in after what has been another busy weekend of football.

Fans and six of the 12 teams rejoiced as non league football returned for the first time since the season was halted back in March.

Clubs voted for the playoffs to go ahead in tiers 5 and 6 of the English pyramid, which then was subsequently approved by the Football Association last week.

Of course it was a playoffs with an obvious difference, with supporters unable to fill the stands to cheer their team on to glory.

The coronavirus pandemic also meant players could travel to matches on the day, some already in their kits, teams can make five substitutions for the first time in a non league game, and there are a multitude of way to control hygiene and sanitisation as well as toned down celebrations and elbow bumps instead of handshakes.

Right, let’s take a look at those Semi final playoff results from the National League, North and South…

NATIONAL LEAGUE

The first game of the semi finals saw Harrogate Town take on Boreham Wood, who in the previous round beat FC Halifax Town 2-1.

By the first drinks break, the deadlock was yet to be broken but it was Harrogate who was on top against the Wood, Sunderland loanee Jack Diamond impressive along with George Thomson for the hosts.

That’s how the scoreline remained at half time, but there was deserved praise for keeper Nathan Ashmore who had been the visitors’ best player, making threes excellent saves to keep Boreham in the game, Diamond causing the most problems throughout for the hosts.

It was Boreham Wood who nearly opened the scoring early in the second half, Tshimanga seeing his effort blocked on the line by Hall and the ball goes wide of the post.

Harrogate followed that up by getting themselves in the lead thanks to Jack Muldoon with a header not long after, as you can see in the video below.

Boreham Wood couldn’t find that all important equaliser and the whistle blew to send Harrogate to Wembley, here was the scenes come full time.

Manager Simon Weaver spoke after the game, have a watch of what he had to say…

They had to wait to find out who their opponents would be, knowing it would either be Notts County or Barnet.

It didn’t take too long to find out who got the first goal of that match, with Kristian Dennis nodding home Jim O’Brien’s expert ball to give the Magpies the lead.

Moments after Dennis had twice been denied by keeper Scott Loach, Cal Roberts wriggles his way into a shooting position and produces the perfect finish inside the area. A stunning solo effort!

LATEST SCORE – Notts County 2-0 Barnet

NATIONAL LEAGUE NORTH

The first game of the day saw a real surprise in this year’s favourites York City getting knocked out to Altrincham.

The team, who dropped from first in the usual standings, before PPG put them second, fell behind after eight minutes at Bootham Crescent.

The ball was played inside to Josh Hancock in the box and he dinked keeper Jameson to open the scoring.

Alty doubled the lead after they hit the crossbar, the ball then landed straight to forward Tom Peers who scored from close range and seal the stunning win, which turned out to be his side’s fourth victory in a row at York.

Altrincham also had to wait to see who they would be playing in the final, that would be either Boston United or Gateshead.

The away side found themselves ahead on the 19th minute when Greg Olley whipped a pinpoint ball into the back post, and JJ O’Donnell headed home.

Then 20 minutes later, hosts’ Boston were handed a spot kick, which saw Jordan Thewlis equalise.

That man also put Boston in front minutes before the break. The assistant referee flagged for a handball against O’Donnell, following good play from Rollins, and Thewlis blasted home the spot-kick for his second of the game.

In the 51st minute, Nicholson was brought down, with the referee giving Gateshead a penalty, which the player went on to score, to make it an exciting finish.

However under 10 minutes later, Boston were back in front when Jay Rollins casually sweeped home Abbott’s fine assist.

20 minutes remaining, Jake Wright added a fourth, before getting a fifth nine minutes later to put themselves through to the final against Altrincham.

Gateshead did give the Pilgrims a late scare with five minutes of normal time remaining when Forbes got the ball in the back of the net to make it 5-3.

NATIONAL LEAGUE SOUTH

Another team who was part of York’s #promote2 campaign was Havant & Waterlooville, however they also couldn’t produce a win and get that all important place in the final.

The Hawks’ opponents, Dartford, came away with a 2-1 win, coming back from 1-0 down also.

Danny Kedwell got his head on a long throw into the box, flicked it on to Jonah Ayunga who tapped it into the net on the 13th minute.

It was in the 56th minute that the Darts got themselves back in the game thanks to Darren McQueen who smashed it past the keeper.

Less than 10 minutes later, the same player put his side in the lead for the first time in the game, Dartford simply tweeting ‘Mr Reliable. That’s all we have to say [on the goal].’

They managed to hold on and get that win to set up a tie against Weymouth.

It’s fair to say one of those two sides started the better, finding themselves 2-0 up by the 11th minute.

Josh McQuoid hit home a penalty after three minutes, before Jaidon Anthony scored his first Terras goal, sliding it past Howes who came rushing out.

McShane got Dorking back into the game, making it 2-1 with just over 15 minutes left of the clock, immediately after that, Weymouth had a golden opportunity to see off the game, instead blasted the ball wide.

Dorking completed their comeback when Elliott Buchanan, inside the box, curls the ball into the corner of the net, with 4 minutes of normal time remaining.

A sucker punch for Dorking came during the eight minutes of injury time when Yemi Odubade got Weymouth a late winner to make it 3-2 and set up a final against Dartford.

Now you’ve seen the Semi final playoff results from the National League, North and South, which surprised you most? Who are you glad to see in the final?

Let us know by commenting on our Facebook page HERE.

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