Montrose were cheered off by their delighted fans in a bumper crowd of over 1,300 after a 1-1 draw at home to Clyde was enough to earn them a promotion play-off spot.
The victory secured fourth spot in League Two for the Links Park men as Elgin City, the only side who could have pipped them, were held 0-0 at home by Cowdenbeath.
The top-four finish completes an amazing transformation for Montrose, who were rock-bottom when Stewart Petrie took over as manager in December.
Petrie said: “I could never have imagined this happening when I took over and it is all credit to the players.
“This is a great club from the board down and we deserved the break in the box we got towards the end.
“It was never going to be a great game with so much at stake. Clyde were excellent and I thought it was going to be one of those days.
“I didn’t know the Elgin score until two minutes from the end when we all realised a point was enough.
“We face Peterhead now but it would not matter who our opponents were as we will just go out and enjoy it.
“It is another big game for our fans.”
The teams took a while to settle in the tension-filled atmosphere.
The first chance fell to Clyde on 17 minutes when David Goodwillie lobbed just over the bar.
It was the sizeable Clyde support who were cheering on 26 minutes when David Gormley crossed for Goodwillie to score, with the home players protesting furiously that he had used a hand.
Two minutes later, Goodwillie smashed a shot wide.
Montrose went close on 39 minutes when Matty Smith cut in from the left and had a rising shot saved by Kyle Gourley.
The home side made two changes early in the second half and piled on the pressure. Graham Webster and Paul Watson had shots saved, then Chris Templeman sent a diving header wide.
At the other end, Goodwillie just missed the target with a spectacular overhead-kick.
Montrose equalised on 81 minutes.
Three shots were blocked in a frantic goalmouth scramble before Templeman supplied the final touch.
Ryan Ferguson had two shots saved, then Montrose thought they had won it on 89 minutes when Templeman slotted home a Cammy Ballantyne cutback only for the linesman to rule the ball had gone out of play.
