As Paul attests, with Adrian Pennock subsequently sending the second Gills penalty wide of the target, suddenly it was advantage City once more.
Terry Cooke (City) and John Hodge (Gillingham) both successfully converted their own efforts before Richard Edghill – who had never scored a goal in his senior career - also coolly proved spot on for the Blues.
That left Gillingham’s Guy Butters with the ultimate pressure kick and Nicky Weaver proved too big an obstacle to overcome, the City keeper’s famous save sealing a 3-1 shoot-out win and with it a ticket to Division One.
It also prompted Weaver’s now legendary madcap sprint round Wembley before skipper Andy Morrison’s bearhug tackle on him sparked an outpouring of joy, relief and the mother of all celebration pile-ons.
Experiencing the opposite end of sport’s pendulum of emotions, Bartram now looks back on all the twists and turns, the highs and the lows, with an air of pragmatism and perspective.
“I didn't get too down and too upset at the end. You know, it's life and worst things happen. It is sport,” Vince points out.
“Likewise, when Paul hit the post in the penalty shoot-out, people said you didn't massively celebrate and that was me. I didn't over celebrate successes. and I didn't over celebrate saves.
“Yes, fans get emotional. Players get emotional, but at the end of the day you can't change it once it's happened, so you know, don't cry over spilt milk.”
However, the warmth and depth of his and Dickov’s friendship was perfectly illustrated in the immediate aftermath of what represented the greatest moment of the City man’s career.
“Paul was the first person to come to me when our final penalty had been saved by Nicky Weaver to finish the shoot-out,” Vince revealed.
“That is the measure of the man.
“Weaves had then gone off on his lap of honour and I was just sat on the pitch and Paul was the first to come over to me and he was like: ‘Mate I’m gutted for you.’
“I wasn't upset. I just remember sitting on the pitch and thinking: ‘I need to take this in. I might never be back at Wembley to experience an occasion like this ever again.’
“So, I just said to Paul: ‘Mate, congratulations. Just go and enjoy yourself and celebrate.’ And we got together then in the bar afterwards.”
For his part, Paul said it was pure natural human instinct that took over – serving as a composite snapshot of the respect and compassion that welded the two men together.
“Do you know what? People who saw what I was like out on the pitch probably misunderstood me a little bit. I'm actually quite a nice guy!” Paul chuckles today.
“And when Weaves went on his celebration and there was that big pile up on top of him after his mad run, I was the last one to join because I went to see Vince straight away.
“You know he was down on his haunches, and we just gave each other a big hug. I’m not saying I wasn't interested in celebrating. I just felt for my mate.
“It was the human side of it. I just wanted to see if he was OK before I went to join in the celebrations.
“In the immediate aftermath, I just left him alone.
“But we laugh and joke about it now and the big man says he always turns his phone off on 30 May because he knows just what’s coming from my social media!”