In the return leg at Layer Road, Colchester won 3–1 to defeat Barnet 3–2 on aggregate thus achieving a place in the final and a second trip to Wembley in a year.

The club were awarded a settlement of £300,000 from Ipswich Town owing to the saga over George Burley's acrimonious exit from Colchester to their Suffolk neighbours in late 1994.

Meanwhile, Alfred McAlpine were named as the consultants commissioned for the process of building a new stadium for Colchester United, with the club's lease on Layer Road due to expire in 2002.

Manager Steve Wignall broke the club's transfer record by spending £50,000 on Neil Gregory, who joined from Ipswich Town to reunite with his brother David.

David Gregory converted from the penalty spot on 22 minutes to win the match 1–0 for Colchester and earn promotion back to the third tier of English football for the first time in 17 years.