'It's made me think twice' - Billy Sharp reflects after fairytale Doncaster Rovers swansong
It was well over an hour since the final whistle had been blown.
The last few Doncaster Rovers fans had finally exited London Road, after plenty of previously fruitless attempts from Peterborough stewards looking to clock off. The media were pitchside finishing off interviews or up in the press box tapping out manager quotes.
And yet Billy Sharp remained out there, on the turf, soaking up every second after the most astonishing of afternoons.
The 40-year-old, on what was his last-ever appearance for Rovers, had just scored an sensational hat-trick and come mightily close to a magnificent career landmark of 300 goals.
Many people (although admittedly Rovers chief Grant McCann wasn't one of them) thought this fixture was nothing but a dead rubber given it pitted together two sides in the mid to lower reaches of the League One table.
And after a pretty low-key first 45 minutes it was hard to see anything other than this end-of-season affair petering out into a scoreless stalemate. But Sharp's determination and sheer bloody-mindedness ensured this was a fitting and frantic end to his love affair with Rovers (for now, at least).
The build-up to this fixture had McCann half-joking that Sharp only needed four to tick off the aforementioned 300-mark. When he opened the scoring not long after half-time with a trademark, close-range finish, nobody was seriously entertaining that thought.
But when he buried another chance, with 20 minutes still remaining, plenty of a Rovers persuasion began to believe.
"When I scored the second I knew there was a chance," Sharp admitted afterwards.
Harry Leonard's strike halved the deficit for Posh not long after that, but just three minutes later Sharp was in amongst the goals again - this time with a superb, laced finish through the legs of goalkeeper Alex Bass.
That sparked scenes seldom seen at Rovers in recent times. The bench erupted, the away end went barmy.
Suddenly, everyone believed and expected the fourth to come. And then came what we all thought was 'the' moment. Sharp sunk another chance but the joy was short-lived as a pesky linesman's flag was raised.
Whilst he might have fallen just short of the most unlikeliest of feats, it didn't take too much gloss of what was a remarkable final appearance for Sharp. Joyous scenes followed full-time as the sold-out away end serenaded the vast majority of the players and no-one more vocally than Sharp.
Once that had eventually died down the veteran stayed behind to sign shirts and even give away his shorts to one lucky fan!
When the time came for interviews, safe to say he was emotional.
"I felt very lucky today," he said. "I didn't think it was real. To get the hat-trick was a fairy-tale but I always thrived to get more. Having said that, I've loved every single minute today.
"I'm proud because I thought my season was over. And I did well to get back as early as I did (from injury) and then to score last week made me really feel satisfied. But I want more!
"If I didn't score today, I'd still have been happy. I honestly thought I was in a film at one point. When I got the hat-trick, I don't know how long was left but I was just thinking 'please, just one more chance'.
"I've not watched it back but I've been told I was slightly off(side). I can't be too greedy. I've had an unbelievable day. The lads made it special and my family were here to see it."
The inevitable question of what's next remains unanswered by Sharp. A career in coaching seems inevitable but it appears to be a case of whether he'll opt for one last playing stint before going down that particular route.
After such a prolific afternoon, there was a glint in Sharp's eye when the question was posed again.
"I'm one (goal) short. I'll have a think and see what happens," he added. "I know I can play on. Age is just a number. Today's made me think twice, definitely."