Globe columnist reflects on Tranmere's triumphant return to league football

THE scene was glorious and seemingly played out in slow motion.

Connor Jennings' ever so slightly deflected cross hung in the air for seemingly an eternity before James Norwood directed his header downwards towards the target.

The goalkeeper got a hand to it but couldn't prevent the ball from rolling over the goal line and with it Tranmere Rovers' on-off promotion back to the Football League was finally secured.

Wembley Stadium wasn't even a quarter occupied but for a moment it felt like it was full to bursting point as the Super White Army exploded with euphoria.

The jubilation wasn't limited to the travelling supporters either.

Fellow press colleagues jumped for joy.

Some were in tears.

This one on the brink.

If you strip it down to the bare facts, you could simply say that a former Football League club had won a non-league playoff final – as expected – and restored their rightful status.

But what actually manifested was the very reason I have been involved in football for as long as I can remember – a moment of sporting greatness that moves the soul and cannot be bought at any price.

Tranmere Rovers have had a mixed season.

They performed poorly in the first half of the campaign, languishing in the bottom half of the table.

Almost all of the new signings had failed to deliver and quickly found themselves frozen out.

The team struggled for an effective shape and, as a result, had no real identity.

Only once Micky Mellon brought in winger Dylan Motley-Henry on loan and started to play with genuine attacking width did Rovers find their feet and start to climb the ta- ble.

Their momentous effort fell short of the National League title – home defeat to Macclesfield effectively ending that hope – but with the play-offs then looking a certainty, the Prenton Park club knew that they were the best team in the mix for the second promotion spot.

They just had to deliver on it.

The way it was achieved is quintessentially Tranmere Rovers.

The Tranmere way, you could say.

An extra-time semi-final win against Ebbsfleet United was packed full of drama and shredded the nerves of the most battle-hard- ened supporter.

But when the club's longest serving player managed to get himself sent off inside a minute of the Wembley finale, supporters and observers could be forgiven for thinking: "Oh no, not again," and wondering just what the club had done to deserve such adversity.

Unlike 12 months earlier when Mellon's side froze on the big occasion however, this time they were ready to fight for the prize at all costs.

Both players and supporters simply decided they would not be beaten and created the type of passion and commitment on and off pitch that more often than not produces winners.

They did much more than just win a football match.

They restored the pride of not just the club, but also the whole peninsula on which it resides.

Rarely has there ever been a prouder day to be from Wirral.

A victory achieved on an ethos of hard work, togetherness, trust, never-say-die attitude and collective will to get the job done.

It really was the sweetest of victories and a day never to be forgotten by everyone who was there.

No wonder the celebrations ran long into the night and the next day and the one after that.

With league football now back at Prenton Park, what next for Rovers?

League Two will be a different animal to the National League, where Tranmere were favourites in every game they played in.

Now they are just another team looking to make their way up the ladder.

A period of reduced expectation won’t do them any harm, but with everyone around the club still on a high, fans will already have their eyes set on a return to League One.

That won't be easy but, after over 20 years of gradual decline, Tranmere Rovers are finally back in the winning habit and people like how it feels.

Next season can’t come quickly enough.