Nouble off to Wembley

West Ham United youngster Frank Nouble could play at Wembley later this month after Swindon Town won through to the League One play-off final.

Nouble was an unused substitute as Danny Wilson's side secured a thrilling penalty shoot-out victory over Charlton Athletic after their two-legged semi-final ended 3-3 on aggregate after extra time at The Valley.

Swindon will take on either Millwall or Huddersfield Town, who meet at The New Den on Tuesday evening, at the Home of Football on Saturday 29 May.

Monday evening's match had a strong West Ham taste, with Charlton boasting no fewer than four men with connections to the club in assistant manager Tim Breacker, newly-crowned player of the year Christian Dailly, winger Kyel Reid and on-loan defender Matt Fry, who was named among the Addicks' substitutes for the first time.

Swindon, meanwhile, named another Hammers loanee on the bench in England Under-19 striker Nouble. Neither Fry nor Nouble were given a chance to show their talents, however.

Instead, it was Academy graduate Reid, who admitted regretting leaving the Boleyn Ground last summer in an interview in the matchday programme, who stole the show West Ham-wise.

Reid, who is on loan at Charlton from Championship outfit Sheffield United, had a hand in both of the hosts' two goals.

The livewire wideman had already tested Phil Smith with a curling right-foot effort before forcing the substitute goalkeeper - on for injured No1 David Lucas - to push his deflected left-foot shot around the post. From the resulting 27th-minute corner, forward David Mooney scored.

Then, deep into the five minutes of first-half time added on for the arm injury suffered by Lucas early on, Reid swapped passes with left-back Gary Borrowdale before crossing for Mooney to sweep home from 18 yards.

Swindon were reduced to ten men when centre-back Gordon Greer was sent-off for catching Deon Burton with a high boot, only to level the tie 3-3 on aggregate through an opportunist strike from Danny Ward 16 minutes from time.

Charlton also went a man down when Miguel Llera was given his marching orders for a professional foul on Charlie Austin in added time, leaving both sets of fans in the 21,521-strong crowd to endure an extra 30 minutes of action.

Reid was replaced in the 95th minute, leading to a chant of 'Sign him up' from the home faithful, many of whom would love to see his loan move made permanent over the summer.

Neither side could force a winner, leading to a nail-biting penalty shoot-out from which Swindon prevailed to book a trip to Wembley.