Shawn Goater was waiting in the wings to take the deciding fifth penalty for Manchester City in the Second Division promotion play-off final at Wembley on Sunday.

Two goals down with four minutes remaining in their match against Gillingham, City clawed their way back with a goal in the 89th minute and another in injury time, with Goater involved in both.

That sent the match into extra-time but when the deadlock wasn't broken it came down to penalty kicks to see who would seal the final spot in the First Division next season.

The list had Goater as the taker of the last penalty but, to his relief, he wasn't needed as a miss by Gillingham and two saves from City goalkeeper Nicky Weaver enabled City to win 3-1 after scoring three of their first four kicks.

"I only took one penalty this season and it got saved,'' Goater said matter-of-factly as he relived the experience yesterday.

"We only had one all season other than that and Kevin Horluck took it and he scored. He also took our first penalty on Sunday.

"I felt pretty confident we were going to score all our penalties, to be honest. I was surprised Paul Dickov's didn't go in because we were practising penalties during the week. If we took 12 penalties we were scoring 10, so I did feel confident we were going to score the four before mine.'' Playing in front of a packed crowd of 76,000, Goater said it was an experience he would always remember. From the moment he stepped onto the pitch he knew the occasion was special.

"It was absolutely brilliant, I can't explain it,'' said the striker.

"Walking out they had all these fireworks and you almost couldn't see the crowd because of the smoke from the fireworks.

"You walk through the fog and then you're on the pitch and you look around and see 70-odd thousand. I'm thinking `this is more than Bermuda'.'' Bermuda's National Stadium may be known for its smooth surface, but it doesn't compare, Goater said.

"It was absolutely smooth and greasy because it was raining. Walking on the pitch was like walking on carpet in your house. The grass was lush and soft.'' There were some similarities in City's performance to that by neighbours Manchester United in the Champions League final against Bayern Munich when they scored two late goals to win 2-1.

"They (Gillingham players) were actually looking at each other and saying `yes, we've done it', but we just kept going to the end,'' said Goater.

"It must be something about the Manchester air right now.'' The City players were delirious when the equalising goal went in deep into injury time, coming after Goater's shot sliced off his boot and went to Dickov who drove it into the roof of the net.

"I can't express the joy of seeing that going in,'' said Goater.

"At that stage I had thoughts of another year in Division Two. When I saw the five minutes (injury time) I did have the thought that Manchester United pulled it back against Bayern Munich and it could be possible.'' Added Goater: "If Paul hadn't scored then perhaps it would have been over because there was only about a minute left. I can't sum up the last five minutes of normal time and going into injury time. I've never been involved in anything like it.

"My wife Anita was saying that she felt like she was playing in the game herself, with the screaming and tension and everything.'' The Second Division behind him, Goater and his team-mates must now be thinking that a second straight promotion could be within their reach.

Watford, who were promoted along with Goater's former team, Bristol City, last year, have gone up again after beating Bolton yesterday in the First Division's play-off final.

City will now be hoping a second promotion will come quickly, especially considering the size of the club.

"They (Watford) showed us they can do it and I'm sure that will be the intentions of our club,'' said Goater.

"We're big enough to be there. This is a respectable division with a lot of big clubs in there. There are easily eight to 10 clubs that could financially be stable in the Premier League.

"First and foremost is not to be relegated but we're going to try to do what Watford did.

"There were a lot of sacrifices early in the season and it's paid off for us.'' A year after leaving promotion-bound Bristol City for Manchester City who were subsequently relegated, Goater still stands by that decision. Now he is looking forward to playing in the First Division.

"This will be my first full season in the First Division, something I've long waited for,'' he stated.

"A year ago a lot of people would have questioned why I left Bristol City who went up while Man City went down, but it looks the right decision now. I always felt it was the right decision, now perhaps in other people's minds it shows it was.'' Goater is due to return to Bermuda on Thursday.

Shawn Goater: looking forward to life in the English First Division.