The 2021 National League play-off final, known as the Vanarama National League Promotion Final for sponsorship reasons, was an association football match played on 20 June 2021 at the Ashton Gate Stadium in Bristol between Torquay United and Hartlepool United.
The game, which was refereed by Simon Mather, was played on a partially cloudy day in front of a reduced crowd of 6,606.
Hartlepool managed to hold on to their lead until the 95th minute when Torquay's goalkeeper Lucas Covolan headed in an equaliser.
Furthermore, due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, the stadium's capacity for the match was reduced from 27,000 by approximately 75% to allow social distancing measures.
[3] Dean Moxey stepped up to convert the penalty to guarantee Torquay's place in the play-off final by winning 4–2.
[4] Hartlepool missed out on a top three spot on the final day of the season despite a 4–0 win against Weymouth, meaning that they would have to play an additional match.
On 17 May 2021, Prime Minister Boris Johnson announced that stadium capacities would be limited to 25% to allow social distancing for the return of supporters.
[12][13] In contrast to recent years where the final was contested at Wembley Stadium, the venue of Ashton Gate was selected to avoid clashes with UEFA Euro 2020 matches.
[18] Torquay had previously won one National League play-off final, by winning 2–0 against Cambridge United in 2009.
[22] Hartlepool, who were managed by Dave Challinor, guaranteed their play-off spot with a 3–1 win at Aldershot Town on 15 May 2021.
[23] After an unbeaten run of 16 games between February and May, Hartlepool had an erratic end to the season by losing three of their final five fixtures to finish in fourth place.
Eight minutes into the match, Torquay seemed to have taken the lead through Kyle Cameron, however, Pools goalkeeper Brad James was deemed to have been impeded.
[38][39] Subsequently, Pools' top goalscorer, Oates – was a catalyst, by driving forward and troubling Lucas Covolan with a low shot that proved awkward for the goalkeeper.
In the 36th minute, Armstrong did open the scoring for Pools, collecting Oates' rebound effort and hitting a shot off the crossbar.
Late on, Hartlepool nearly scored two more goals via Mark Shelton and Holohan, however, both shots were blocked by Torquay defenders.
In the final moments Torquay maintained pressure on their opponents and substitute Billy Waters failed to convert a shot late on.
In the fifth minute of injury time, Torquay's goalkeeper Covolan was allowed to go into the Pools box for a Torquay corner, which was cleared, but when the ball was crossed forward from the right, Covolan beat James to the ball, stunning Pools and forcing them to play an additional 30 minutes.
[41] Waters had two efforts blocked as Torquay dominated the early stages of the first period of extra time.
Jake Andrews of Torquay was stretchered off with an injury which allowed a previously deflated Hartlepool to regain some momentum.
[43] The team celebrated the promotion back to the Football League with their fans through an open-top bus tour of Hartlepool on 25 June 2021.
[48] In November 2021, Hartlepool's manager Dave Challinor decided to join National League side Stockport County despite having signed a three-year contract in September 2021.