Bristol City have reached the final of the Johnstone's Paint Trophy after a 1-1 draw against Gillingham in their Southern Area final second leg at Ashton Gate gave them a 5-3 win on aggregate.
The hosts carved out the first chance of the game within the first three minutes as the ball was flicked on to Matt Smith, whose dangerous header towards goal was tipped away by Stuart Nelson.
Smith, who scored all four goals in the first leg, then got himself on the scoresheet once again when he blasted an effort against the crossbar before nodding in the rebound from eight yards.
Just after the half-hour mark, Gillingham gave themselves a sliver of hope when Jermaine McGlashan collected a pass before beating his man and flicking the ball over Frank Fielding.
The visitors nearly made it 2-1 on the stroke of half time when the unmarked Doug Loft bore down on goal and let rip with a shot destined for the top corner, but Fielding pulled off a one-handed save to deny the Gills skipper.
Early in the second half, Gillingham upped the tempo and tested the City goalkeeper on a number of occasions, but the hosts countered with a Smith shot from just four yards that was blocked by Joe Martin.
Towards the latter stages of the game it was all City, with the livewire Jay Emmanuel-Thomas forcing a number of great saves from Nelson.
Ultimately, the referee's final whistle confirmed the hosts' progress to the final of the competition and a date at Wembley, where they will take on Walsall for the right to lift the Johnstone's Paint Trophy.
Giuseppe Labellarte
