Ben Barclay earned Carlisle a thrilling 3-2 aggregate victory over Bradford but is will miss the Sky Bet League Two play-off final against Stockport.
Defender Barclay, on loan from County, headed United’s third and semi-final clinching goal in the second period of extra time after Mark Hughes’ Bantams threatened to take the game to penalties.
The final whistle produced a mass pitch invasion with thousands of jubilant home supporters celebrating victory.
Carlisle trailed 1-0 from the first leg at Valley Parade but levelled the tie when defender Brad Halliday put through his own goal after 21 minutes.
That is the way it stayed for the rest of normal time with Bradford offering little in response up front.
Callum Guy, a former Bradford loanee, then put Carlisle in the driving seat, scoring his fourth goal of the season in the 98th minute.
But with the majority of a sell out 15,401 crowd dreaming of the club’s first Wembley appearance since 2011, the visitors hit back.
Only 29 seconds into the second period of extra time Crystal Palace loanee Scott Banks set-up an opportunity and 37-year-old Matt Derbyshire levelled the game on aggregate.
However, Carlisle found another gear.
Outstanding Owen Moxon’s delivery into the box found Barclay in space and he headed beyond stranded Harry Lewis to ultimately seal victory.
Carlisle had dominated the opening half, energised by striker JK Gordon’s return after a three-game retrospective ban.
Only three minutes had elapsed when Gordon cut in from the home left and fired in a low shot Lewis comfortably saved.
Carlisle’s second half of the season fadeout in front of goal cost them a possible automatic promotion place.
Gordon was fired up to make up for lost opportunities and only Lewis’ right glove and then the upright prevented Gordon scoring his first goal since January 28 after 16 minutes.
The breakthrough eventually came six minutes later. Lewis produced a superb save to deny star midfielder Moxon.
Lewis, however, could not hold the shot with Gordon and Halliday converging on the rebound. Gordon wheeled away in celebration as the ball went in though the Bradford defender was credited with getting an unwanted final touch.
Scoring chances were in shorter supply after the break and the stalemate remained through to the final whistle, including nine minutes of stoppage time.
But extra time erupted with action culminating in Barclay’s 112th-minute winner, his second and final goal before returning to Edgeley Park.
Maresca: Chelsea 'deserved something more' from Liverpool loss
Enzo Maresca felt Chelsea "deserved something more" from their 2-1 defeat against Liverpool.
The Blues suffered only their second Premier League defeat of the season, as Curtis Jones' strike settled the contest at Anfield.
Nicolas Jackson had struck within minutes of the restart to cancel out Mohamed Salah's first-half penalty, but Chelsea missed the opportunity to climb to third place in the table.
Nevertheless, Maresca believes his players can leave Anfield with their heads held high.
"We don't like to lose or drop points, but I really liked the performance," he told Sky Sports. "We deserved something more, but the performance was good.
"We controlled most of the game. We had chances, we had possession. We don't like to lose, but if we have to choose, this is the way. The team was brave on and off the ball.
"I don't think this game defines where we are. We prepared in the best way, it worked quite well. You have to take chances, but overall I am very happy with the players."
Meanwhile, Reece James felt Chelsea's performance epitomised the impressive strides they have made in a short space of time.
The right-back made his first Premier League start for the club since December 2023, managing 53 minutes on his return to action.
"Coming here is always tough," the Blues skipper said. "I think we controlled most of the game. They had chances; we had a few chances as well but didn't take them.
"We are definitely moving in the right direction. The scoreline doesn't reflect the game.
"If we step back and look at performances and what we are trying to do, we have come a long way. It is still early days, we haven't been with the manager long."
Cabal pleased to repay Motta's faith after victorious Juventus return
Juventus left-back Juan Cabal was pleased to repay the faith of coach Thiago Motta after returning from injury to star in their 1-0 win over Lazio.
Cabal joined from Verona in July for €11million but has battled a niggling hamstring issue at the start of his Bianconeri career, missing the last six weeks.
He returned to face Lazio on Saturday, with his cross forcing an own goal from Mario Gila as Juventus avoided a fifth draw in the space of six games.
After the match, the Colombia international revealed Lazio had shown an interest in him previously, but said he only ever had eyes for Juve.
"Lazio looked for me before, but I was only thinking about Juve. I wanted to play for Juve since I was a kid and now I am here," Cabal told reporters.
"We all know Juve's history. We have to give our lives for Juve.
"The coach saw something different and put me out, but he has faith in me. He put me on the pitch at the right time.
"It is difficult not to play for so long. But we must always be ready. I work all week to play even one minute,"
Saturday's win took unbeaten Juventus to 16 points from eight matches, level on points with leaders Napoli, who possess a game in hand.
"The important thing is to try to win every game. We want to be champions, but I can't tell you now that we will win the championship," Cabal said.
Al-Ittihad 3-1 Al-Qadsiah: Diaby and Benzema inspire hosts
Al-Ittihad cut the gap on Saudi Pro League leaders Al-Hilal back to three points after Saturday's 3-1 victory over Al-Qadsiah.
Karim Benzema needed just seven minutes to open the scoring, though Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang soon restored parity with a 20th-minute finish of his own.
Moussa Diaby created Benzema's opener and found the net himself just past the hour, edging the hosts back into the lead after linking up with Houssem Aouar.
Substitute Mario Mitaj made sure of the victory nine minutes from time, helping Al-Ittihad to their sixth win in seven league games to start their campaign.
Data Debrief: Dazzling Diaby
Diaby has provided assists in his last five league matches (eight in total), matching the competition-leading streaks by Mishari Al-Thamali, with Al-Faisaly in 2014, and Carlos Villanueva for Al-Ittihad in 2017.
The former Aston Villa winger's eight assists are also the most in the first seven rounds of a season in Saudi Arabia's top-flight, marking history for Diaby.
His efforts helped Al-Ittihad to their fourth home win in seven league games to start a season, only managing to achieve this feat in the 2014-15 campaign, when they ended the term second.
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