Liam Dickinson's moment of early brilliance sent Stockport into the Coca-Cola League Two play-off final against north-west rivals Rochdale at Wembley with the winning goal against Wycombe which sealed a 2-1 aggregate win.
The 6ft 4in forward registered his 20th goal of the season in the seventh minute after Wycombe skipper Mike Williamson inexplicably allowed the ball to slip under his feet on the halfway line.
Dickinson, 22, showed blistering pace to race clear of the visiting defence and remarkable poise to slip the ball past goalkeeper Frank Fielding with a neat right-foot finish.
That put County ahead on aggregate and settled a disappointing encounter in which genuine goalscoring opportunities were scarce.
They will now face a derby match with Rochdale after Ben Muirhead scored the decisive kick as they beat Darlington 5-4 on penalties.
With the scores level at 4-4, the former Manchester United trainee fired his spot kick straight down the centre after Dale keeper Tommy Lee had kept out Jason Kennedy's effort with his legs.
Rochdale earned their first ever trip to Wembley after a superb fightback at Spotland, winning 2-1 to overturn a first-leg deficit.
Keith Hill's side lost 2-1 at the Darlington Arena and fell 3-1 behind on aggregate when Clark Keltie converted a penalty after Rene Howe was harshly adjudged to have pulled back Kennedy in the area.
Rochdale fought back two minutes before half time when Darlington keeper David Stockdale, who will join Fulham in the summer, spilled Adam Rundle's free-kick and Chris Dagnall bundled the ball over the line.
Darlington were able to keep their hosts at arm's length for most of the second period, but Dale finally levelled the aggregate score in the 83rd minute when David Perkins' long-range shot deflected off Kennedy and over Stockdale.
Perkins was shown a straight red card for a lunge at Ricky Ravenhill in the second period of extra time before Kennedy wasted a glorious chance for Darlington when he sliced a shot wide after some neat control, and the on-loan Middlesbrough winger was the villain again in the shoot-out when he became the only player to miss.
