We're the famous Peterborough and we're back at Wemb-er-ly, after one fantastic fightback.

The hosts appeared to be cruising to the Vertu Trophy Final when leading 2-0 with 20 minutes to go and they still looked comfortable at 2-1 as the semi-final ticked over into added time.

But substitute Brad Ihionvien, who hadn’t scored a goal for Posh since his debut in September, displayed dancing feet to claim an equaliser and send the game into a penalty shootout. Posh had had some practice in the 71st minute when Cian Hayes had been upended by reckless goalkeeper Arthur Okonkwo. Malik Mothersille missed that spot-kick, but converted the rebound to give his side hope.

Mothersille also saw his penalty saved in the shootout, but the other Posh men were nerveless including young Harley Mills, substitute midfielder Ryan De Havilland, whose shot was his only kick of the ball, and captain Hector Kyprianou who converted the winning strike in super-cool fashion. Ihionvien smashed his penalty home and Jed Steer saved from Paul Mullin and Elliot Lee to leave Posh to enjoy wonderful celebrations in front of the 375 travelling fans. The shootout was won 4-2.

Holders Posh signalled their intentions by fielding their strongest possible side with the exception of cup-tied players and long-term injury victims. Emmanuel Fernandez and Mills replaced Sam Hughes and Tayo Edun respectively in the enfroced changes from the team that started at Huddersfield Town on Saturday.

Wrexham made eight changes to their weekend starting line-up as they prioritised their push for automatic promotion from League One over a trip to Wembley. The Welsh club have deep reserves of strength though, with former Posh Golden Boot winner Jack Marriott one of the players called up, so a decent line-up took to the field.

The home side’s game-plan involved sitting back and hoping Posh didn’t play through them. It led for a dull contest, albeit one dominated for half an hour by Posh. They found it easy to get to the Wrexham penalty area, but simple passes when in dangerous areas regularly went astray. Abraham Odoh, Mothersille and Kyprianou were the guilty men, while centre-backs Fernandez and Oscar Wallin missed close-range headed chances from set-pieces.

Wrexham offered very little. They didn’t win a corner in the first-half, but they exploded into life after 34 minutes when one simple long, straight ball found Wallin asleep and Mo Faal very much alive. Faal still had plenty to do, but Steer simplified his decision by moving too far off his line allowing a simple chipped finish.

Cian Hayes immediately blasted over the crossbar after some good play from James Dornelly and Ricky-Jade Jones, but Wrexham then scored from their next attack as Posh failed to defend crosses from both sides of the pitch and an unattended George Dobson scored from close range.

Posh responded by making two half-time substitutes. Ihionvien replaced Ricky-Jade Jones and Mo Susoho came on for Archie Collins. And Susoho could have pulled a goal back straight away. Ihionvien did well to send Odoh away and the little winger did even better to tee up Susoho on the edge of the area. His shot was firm, but whistled wide of a post. Posh pushed hard for a goal, but their threat fizzled out amid a flurry of misplaced passes.

Wrexham grew back into the game with Steer saving well from Lewis Brunt and from Mullin before Posh launched their fabulous fightback.

Hayes looked suspiciously offside as he chased a terrific through ball from Susoho and invited Okonkwo to make a challenge. He obliged and Posh were back in the game. They almost equalised immediately when Ihionvien and Hayes snatched at shots in the same attack, but the game appeared to be drifting to a disappointing conclusion when Ihionvien showed great quality on the ball before finishing emphatically.

Kyprianou won the toss to make sure the penalties were taken in front of an empty stand and his players delivered. Whether or not they can deliver again and preserve that perfect playing record at Wembley is another matter given the strength of the opposition, but not one that needs worrying about right now.

Posh: Jed Steer, James Dornelly, Harley Mills, Emmanuel Fernandez, Oscar Wallin, Archie Collins (sub Mo So, Hector Kyprianou, Malik Mothersille, Cian Hayes, Abraham Odoh (sub Ryan De Havilland, 90 + 4 mins)>, Ricky-Jade Jones.

Unused subs: Nicholas Bilokapic, Chris Conn-Clarke, George Nevett, Donay O’Brien-Brady.

Wrexham: Arthur Okonkwo, Lewis Brunt, Dan Scarr, Max Cleworth, Ryan Barnett, George Evans (sub Eoghan O’Connell, 85 mins), George Dobson (sub Elliott Lee, 66 mins), Harry Ashfield (sub Ollie Rathbone, 76 mins), Jacob Mendy, Jack Marriott (sub Paul Mullin, 66 mins), Mo Faal (sub Steve Fletcher, 66 mins).

Unused subs: Mark Howard, Ryan Longman.

Goals: Posh – Mothersille (71 mins), Ihionvien (90 + 1 min).

Wrexham – Faal (34 mins), Dobson (39 mins).

Cautions: Posh – Wallin (foul).

Referee: Lewis Smith 7.

Attendance: 9,258 (375 Posh).