ON the eve of Saturday's play-off final at Wembley, Southend was bizarrely hit by an earthquake.

But such was the noise generated by the Shrimpers’ supporters following their side’s most dramatic of victories against Wycombe Wanderers it would not have been a surprise had more tremors been felt back in Blues’ heartland.

Phil Brown’s side had more than 20,000 fans roaring them on at the home of English football but it initially seemed set to be a day of desperate disappointment as a series of fortuitous breaks went Wycombe’s way.

Blues had a Barry Corr header ruled out for a needless push by Cian Bolger in the first half, before Corr was denied a clear cut penalty after the break when he was barged in the back by Joe Jacobson when attempting to reach a deep, left wing cross from Michael Timlin.

After that, Jacobson had an even bigger slice of luck when his free-kick, six minutes into extra time, struck the underside of the crossbar before rebounding off of Daniel Bentley and bouncing back over the goal-line.

That fortuitous free-kick seemed to have settled the tie and condemned Southend to another frustrating season in League Two.

Handfuls of dejected Blues fans began to trudge away from the stadium and I had even finished the report detailing a defeat for the Shrimpers.

But then, out of nowhere, came a dramatic and unexpected twist of fate perhaps more suited to a Hollywood blockbuster as, with just 20 seconds of stoppage time remaining, substitute Joe Pigott suddenly popped up out of nowhere to bag a brilliant equaliser.

The superbly taken strike took the tie to penalties and, with Shrimpers fans sprinting back into the stadium to watch the spot-kicks, it was Blues who eventually came out on top in what seemed to be a never-ending shoot-out.

Fifteen different penalties were taken before Wycombe’s Sam Wood had his effort impressively pushed on to the right post by Bentley to spark wild celebrations among both players and fans.

The scenes that followed were perhaps the best in the club’s history and will live long in the memory for everyone connected with the Shrimpers as a season of twists and turns ended in one of their most famous ever triumphs.

The victory was also indicative of the fighting spirit in the side who, just three weeks ago, were crestfallen on the final day of the regulation League Two season when a 3-1 defeat at Morecambe saw them just miss out on automatic promotion.

Several players were slumped on the floor with their heads in their hands at the final whistle that afternoon but the response to that shattering setback was simply first class, especially as the play-offs did not run smoothly.

Blues were forced to come from behind twice in their semi-final with Stevenage and even missed a last-gasp penalty in the second leg before digging deep to win in extra time.

That dramatic victory secured their passage to Wembley where the Shrimpers again displayed a never say die attitude to score in the 120th minute before coming out on top on penalties.

The manner of the win again proved Southend never do anything the easy way but it also showed the club are back on the up.

New heroes have been born, an old one has returned and, after a difficult few years, a feel-good factor has returned around Roots Hall.

The seasons watching what seemed like strangers have long since gone and there is now real empathy towards the players once more.

The buzz is back for Blues and so too is League One.