Where was the fighting spirit shown at Burton only nine days previously when we clawed back a two-goal deficit with three minutes to go. Why weren’t we playing our real game, the passing, patient, probing football side that City have evolved into during this campaign? An entire campaign’s hard work seemed like it could peter out into a dire frustrating defeat.

We bossed the first leg. Dominant from front to back apart from, crucially, being able to put the ball in the back of the net. Controversy surrounded the game both on and off the pitch. From a wrongly disallowed Exeter goal to a tunnel bust- up at full-time, but Torquay had the upper hand thanks to a 92nd minute goal.

I had told myself in the build-up to the second leg about trying to err on the side of caution, to avoid the huge disappointment that could follow.

And 58 minutes into the second leg it seemed I’d made the right choice, as Kevin Hill pounced to put Torquay 3-1 up on aggregate and the Gulls began to squawk about promotion and Wembley. It took that breakthrough to awake the 5,000 Torquay fans inside Plainmoor from their two-hour siesta. Singing when they were winning they might well have been but we were about to be humiliated by Torquay, in their back yard.

Exeter just didn’t look like scoring. We were almost cast adrift, a momentous four goals away from that dream return to Wembley (and three from forcing extra time) with 20 arduous minutes left against a side that had conceded just once against Exeter in the last 240 minutes of football.

Like an embarrassed holidaymaker who’s fallen through a deck chair on the Torquay sea front, we looked like we were about to be ridiculed on our own Bank Holiday saunter to the ‘English Riviera’.

2:30pm Plainmoor, Torquay Monday 5th May 2008 Play-Off Semi Final, Second Leg

Torquay 1 (3) – Exeter 4 (5)

Delirious, disbelief and unbelievable delight is the one way to describe those 20 minutes. Well that or euphoric, manic, unique, unforgettable, awesome, inspirational, jubilation or just ecstasy. When the third and then fourth goals went in I just could not believe what was happening and the unconfined joy and relief just bubbled over. But these are moments you just want to bottle up to hold onto and relive them over and over.

In years to come I will point to a few games that defined just why I support Exeter City. I will never, ever ever forget how I felt when Richard Logan superbly headed in the third goal just a few feet in front of us in the 89th minute.

When celebrating big moments like that your whole world turns on its head for a few seconds. Your average football celebration lasts maybe a few seconds of delight and then it’s a round of applause and smiles all around. But those magical football moments seem to last forever, you never feel the need to come back down to earth!

Nick Hornby described it as the delirium where everything goes blank for a few moments and he’s spot on. Those blank moments are followed by the need to dance, jump, shout, run, scream, with the 1,200 other City fans that are going absolutely bananas around you.

That evening I felt emotionally and physically exhausted, had a banging headache and a sore throat. And even now, I still struggle to believe what happened.

We got four goals in 20 minutes, three after the 80-minute mark in a play-off semi-final at your local rivals when all hope seemed lost. It just doesn’t seem like the Exeter City way! It will go down as one of the team’s greatest ever comebacks.

Substitute Ryan Harley’s well-placed drive reduced the deficit with 20 minutes to go but it felt like a consolation. By the time Wayne Carlisle ran through in injury time to score the fourth to cap an amazing result I was on cloud nine.

Of course football is all about the shared experience and those wonderful celebrations echoed this. Those post-match songs and goals were not only celebrated with my friends and family, but the players, management and the fans around me, all glowing with pride and pure delight at the afternoon’s events.

That brings me on nicely to the players. In those last 20 minutes they really were heroes. They showed passion, commitment and pride in wearing the Exeter shirt and a desire to drag us to Wembley. And their celebrations reflected just how much they care about our club

Dean Moxey dived into the crowd as the third goal went in. Richard Logan kissed the badge after his stunning winner. Even manager Paul Tisdale ran onto the pitch and celebrated with fans behind the dugout. And Paul Jones showed his gratitude to the fans' support as he took the time to walk the length of the away end shaking hands with everyone. Those are the players I like to see at my football club, I was so proud of them.

It was a day that made me immensely proud to be an Exeter fan and no amount of belittling and put-downs will ever take that away.