Midway through the first half, the ball struck the arm of Jon Gittens and Fletcher awarded a penalty which David Gregory converted, sending the reserve Torquay goalkeeper Matt Gregg the wrong way.

Colchester United finished one point behind Lincoln City (who were promoted in third place), eight behind second-placed Macclesfield Town and twenty-five behind league winners Notts County.

After a goalless first half, Greg Heald scored past Carl Emberson in the Colchester goal three minutes after half-time to give Barnet the lead.

In the 82nd minute, both Barnet's Sean Devine and Colchester's Guy Branston were shown a red card for violent conduct, and the match ended 1–0.

Howarth was then sent off in the 59th minute for a professional foul on Gregory before David Greene headed Colchester into the lead from Paul Buckle's free kick, levelling the aggregate score and sending the game into extra time.

Jason Rockett scored the equaliser five minutes before half-time but after the interval, goals from Jon Gittens and Andy McFarlane secured a 3–1 win for Torquay.

[3] Colchester United had participated in the play-offs on one previous occasion, in 1987, when they failed to progress past the semi-finals, losing on aggregate to Wolverhampton Wanderers.

[4] They had played at Wembley Stadium the previous season when they lost to Carlisle United in the 1997 Football League Trophy Final in a penalty shoot-out.

[6] In the matches between the sides during the regular season, the encounter at Plainmoor in August 1997 ended in a 1–1 draw while Colchester won the return game 1–0 at Layer Road the following January.

[9][10] Torquay's goalkeeper Ken Veysey was suspended for the final so 19-year-old Matt Gregg, who had last started a game on 31 January, was selected in his place.

[14] Seven minutes later, Mark Sale's header from Joe Dunne's cross was straight at Gregg and the match ended 1–0 with Colchester being promoted to the Second Division.

[9][14] Steve Wignall, the winning manager, admitted that his club needed to strengthen in order to compete in the Second Division, suggesting that "the hard work starts here.