The bubbly was a cheap, sweet and sickly Italian spumante but there was no doubting the sincerity of the celebrations as Rochdale won through to their first appearance at Wembley and gave themselves a great chance of achieving only their second promotion in their 101-year history.

Rochdale were marginally the better side over the two legs and so little separated the teams that in the end it took five expertly converted penalties from the home side to make the decisive difference. It was Jason Kennedy, on loan from Middlesbrough, who was the fall guy in the end. He shot Darlington’s fifth penalty hard into the centre of the goal and Tommy Lee, who had dived to his right, saved with his feet. Substitute Ben Muirhead then converted to give Rochdale the chance to play for promotion from the bottom league, where they have been stuck since 1974.

“It was a brilliant game and it is an incredible achievement,” said Rochdale manager Keith Hill. “I’ve been here 18 months and I’m not responsible for the history. History lessons I used to fall asleep in. I’m sick of hearing it but this gives us an opportunity.”

Darlington had a slight advantage from the first leg but limped into the game with an injury list running into double figures, top scorers Tommy Wright and Pawel Abbott the most notable absentees. Still, it was a surprise that manager Dave Penney went with converted midfielder Micky Cummins as the lone striker in front of a five-man midfield.

The containment policy appeared sound as Darlington took the lead on 27 minutes, albeit against the run of play from a harshly awarded penalty against Rene Howe, adjudged to have impeded the run of Kennedy.Clark Keltie stepped forward to slam in the spot-kick and give Darlington a two-goal cushion on aggregate.

Rochdale had played much of the better football so there was a sense of wrongs being righted when they managed to get back in the tie on 42 minutes. Darlington goalkeeper David Stockdale had been in doubt with a foot injury before the game and appeared nervous throughout the first half, never more so than when he parried Adam Rundle’s free kick from wide on the right for Chris Dagnall to bundle the ball home from point-blank range.

Ricky Ravenhill hit the crossbar a minute into the second half, but from then on Rochdale started to dominate, with much of their best work coming through their slight midfielder David Perkins, who has been their biggest influence in their drive towards the top of the second division since signing from Morecambe 14 months ago. He has the class to grace at least a division or two higher and showed it with Rochdale’s second goal on 77 minutes.

It came after Rochdale had a penalty appeal turned down, when Alan White appeared to haul down Adam Le Fondre, on as a half-time substitute for Howe. The crowd were still appealing when the ball came to Perkins from a throw-in and he lashed in a shot from nearly 30 yards that flew into the right-hand corner of Stockdale’s net.

That levelled the tie on aggregate, but Darlington had the chance to seize the initiative in extra time when Perkins was sent off for a one-footed lunge on Ravenhill. He is planning to appeal his red card, but his likely absence from the final is a huge blow to Rochdale. Darlington were unable to make the breakthrough and Simon Ramsden almost won it for 10-man Rochdale when he hit the crossbar from Muirhead’s corner kick. After that, Hill ordered his charges behind the ball, happy to let his side take their chances with the penalties.

Having chosen his five penalty-takers and their order, he was full of certainty and his confidence was borne out as Rochdale carried a famous day at Spotland stadium.

Star man: Rory McArdle (Rochdale)

Player ratings:
Rochdale: Lee 7, Ramsden 7, Stanton 6, McArdle 8, Kennedy 7, Higginbotham 6 (Muirhead 89min), Perkins 7, Jones 7, Rundle 7 (Doolan 111min), Dagnall 6, Howe 6 (Le Fondre ht, 6)
Darlington: Stockdale 5, Wiseman 6, Foster 7, White 5, Ravenhill 7, Purdie 6, Cummins 6 (Ndumbu-Nsungu 52min), Keltie 7 (Nelthorpe 88min), Wainwright 6, Joachim 6, Kennedy 7
Scorers: Rochdale: Dagnall 43, Perkins 78 Darlington: Keltie pen 28
Yellow cards: Rochdale: Howe Darlington: Wainwright, Ravenhill, White Red card: Rochdale: Perkins
Referee: R Beeby
Attendance:9,870