'Unbelievable' - Harrogate Town's George Thomson on scoring and winning at Wembley alongside his best mates

Harrogate Town, a non-league club for the entirety of their 106-year existence, lead Notts County - the world's oldest professional association football team - 3-1. A place in the Football League is within touching distance.

Having been completely immersed in the occasion and focused on the job in hand from the very first whistle, George Thomson risks a glance up at the electronic scoreboard.

All of a sudden, the realisation that he and his team-mates were actually going to make good their dream of breaking into the EFL began to dawn on the Town right-winger.

He admits to being overcome by emotion.

“It was about the 91st minute and I looked up at the big screen and suddenly just got a tingling sensation and shivers all through my body,” he revealed.

“It was because I knew we were basically there. I knew we’d done it. Notts weren’t coming back. So, those last three minutes from there on in were pretty enjoyable.

“When the final whistle was blown I fell straight to the floor. I was face down, I think. I could have cried. It was just an incredible feeling.”

Trips to Wembley, winning finals and securing historic promotions are special enough experiences on their own, though for Thomson, Town’s achievements this season taste all the sweeter due to the close-knit bond within their group.

“On the pitch after the game, I looked around and just thought ‘look at the place we’re in,” he added.

“There’s no better way to do it than by winning at Wembley, but the best thing for me is that we did it as a group of lads who are all really good mates.

“There’s nobody in this current squad who is on the outside of it. Everybody gets on.

“We spend a lot of time together on and off the pitch, so to achieve what we have as a group of friends, is quite literally what dreams are made of.”

The part that Thomson played in his team's Wembley triumph cannot be understated.

The ex-Chester and FC United of Manchester attacker didn't just win at the home of football, he also scored there, converting Ryan Fallowfield’s fifth-minute cross from the right to break the deadlock.

“I saw that their left-back and Jim O’Brien their left-midfielder had both gone out [to engage Fallowfield] and spotted that there was a gap for me to run in to,” Thomson said.

“I shouted ‘near post’ to Fal and he’s heard me and played the perfect pass, with just the right amount of pace on it.

“It was just a case of me making sure that I got there before their centre-half who was covering across. Once I made contact I just tried to make sure I sent the ball across the goalkeeper and kept it low.

“When I realised that the ball was going in the back of the net it was just an unbelievable feeling.”

Twenty-two minutes later, Thomson was at it again, delivering an inviting right-wing free-kick for Connor Hall to stretch out a long leg and finish at the far post.

“Since lockdown, we’ve been practising set-pieces almost every single training session and that repetition has really helped me,” he added.

“When I stood over that free-kick, I knew exactly what I wanted to do with it. It was in a great position, the perfect angle to deliver the ball right across the six-yard box. As soon as I hit it I could feel that if one of our players didn’t get on the end of it, one of their defenders was going to turn it in.

“I’m just delighted to have been able to contribute.”