28/04/2008 - Notts County 1 Wycombe 0
It all seemed to happen in slow motion, almost as if time cruelly wanted to make the Magpies wait a few more split-seconds before they could celebrate a priceless goal.
It didn't matter that they had waited so long; that the club's supporters had been tortured for long enough. They would have to wait just that little bit longer.
Then the ball bounced over the goal-line and Meadow Lane erupted into real time. And how.
It was pure pandemonium in the Kop Stand - a sea of jubilant black-and-white. The delight that reverberated around the stadium was deafening.
All knew the significance of Richard Butcher's goal. All knew it took Notts County to the cusp of safety in the Football League.
And, in that moment, all those that love the club set a world-record for the number of people who breathed a sigh of sheer, unadulterated, relief at the same time.
And it was all kind of fitting too. It had a touch of Hollywood about it.
That it was Butcher, a hugely significant figure throughout the season as the leading scorer, in front of the Kop and in the final home game of the season made it all the more momentous, if that is at all possible.
It also proved to be the first time the Magpies have won a game in which the midfielder has scored in this campaign, amazingly.
Talk about timing.
And he took it, like he took all of the 11 goals that preceded it, with aplomb, racing onto a through ball inside the penalty area and chipping it deftly over the visitors' onrushing keeper Frank Fielding.
He has definitely scored more spectacular goals this season, the dipping volley at Macclesfield for instance. But he has not scored a more significant goal this campaign - perhaps in his career.
Butcher was certainly the hero boss Ian McParland was holding out for. But he was not alone.
Winger Myles Weston was outstanding. He completely terrorised the Wycombe defence with his pace and purpose, and he was tireless in his defensive duties. And then there was the part he played in the goal.
Michael Johnson too, was a colossus at the back. He was a major doubt ahead of the game with an ankle problem, but he shrugged it off and was typically commanding in all that he did.
His return to the club in its hour of greatest need has proven a major coup, a masterstroke by boss Ian McParland, and the club need to do all they can to keep him now.
The veteran defender has hinted he wants to end his career where it all began and the Magpies need to make that happen if they want to build something special at Meadow Lane.
The Magpies were masters of their own destiny in the end. They knew victory would guarantee their safety in League Two and they went out and did it.
McParland revealed they knew how their relegation rivals, Dagenham and Mansfield, were faring. But it didn't matter in the end. Butcher put it best when he said they could have both won 10-0 and it wouldn't have mattered because Notts did their job.
They stood up to be counted when it mattered most of all.
And that is what pleased McParland above all else after a such a turbulent season of struggle. His players went out and won against a very good side. They didn't wait for a slip-up from the teams below them. And it means no-one can say they don't deserve to stay in the Football League.
Some will point to the fact that the visitors' boss Paul Lambert made a staggering six changes to his side, with their place in the play-offs already secure. They will say that it was a weaker Wycombe side than it could have been; that they had one eye on the play-offs.
But they were still an impressive and dangerous outfit, with leading scorer Scott McGleish and Delroy Facey great threats throughout.
They even gave the Magpies an early scare when McGleish headed against the crossbar in the opening minutes of the game.
Wycombe wanted to win and they outplayed Notts in the first half. But it was a different story in the second half as the Magpies dominated.
They created a series of chances before Butcher took his so brilliantly. And then they battened down the hatches in the face of some late pressure from the visitors. Once they took the lead there was no way they were ever going to surrender it, not with the likes of Johnson and Mike Edwards at the back.
It was tense to the end and on-loan keeper Russell Hoult made a great save from a late Facey header that seemed destined to break the Magpies' hearts and take the relegation battle to the wire. And then the final whistle went, after three minutes of added-time that seemed to last an eternity, and it was all over.
There were memorable scenes of joyous celebration at the end as the players and management staff walked round the pitch to applaud the fans. The appreciation was vociferously reciprocated.
After a season of sheer struggle, the club were careful not to call it a lap of honour. But that is what it was. And for once, it was deserved.