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| Rotherham promoted to Championship after penalty win over Leyton Orient | Rotherham promoted to Championship after penalty win over Leyton Orient |
| (35 minutes later) | |
| For the first time Rotherham United fans can say the New York Stadium is a Championship venue, a fact so good they may like to say it twice. The club that only six years ago were resurrected by the lighting tycoon Tony Stewart and given a bright new home after years of bleak struggle have recorded back-to-back promotions to return to the second tier of English football. Fittingly, even in this final they had to fight back, coming from two goals down to prevail in a penalty shootout. | |
| Leyton Orient have been waiting 32 years to get back to the second tier and, despite leading League One for much of this season, must wait at least one more. Their manager, Russell Slade, had excelled on paltry resources to lift his team so far, but was left with the bitter taste of another play-off defeat, the third in his career after similar ordeals at Grimsby and Yeovil. | Leyton Orient have been waiting 32 years to get back to the second tier and, despite leading League One for much of this season, must wait at least one more. Their manager, Russell Slade, had excelled on paltry resources to lift his team so far, but was left with the bitter taste of another play-off defeat, the third in his career after similar ordeals at Grimsby and Yeovil. |
| Just like the season, it all started promisingly for Orient. They went in front thanks to first-half goals from each of their dextrous wingers, Moses Odubajo and Dean Cox, but Rotherham replied with a pair of strikes from Alex Revell early in the second period and there followed an hour of intense exchanges before the showdown from 12 yards. Even in that contest, Orient took the lead after Jamie Jones parried Lee Frecklington’s tame effort, but Adam Collin then saved from Mathieu Baudry and Chris Dagnall to send Rotherham into raptures. | Just like the season, it all started promisingly for Orient. They went in front thanks to first-half goals from each of their dextrous wingers, Moses Odubajo and Dean Cox, but Rotherham replied with a pair of strikes from Alex Revell early in the second period and there followed an hour of intense exchanges before the showdown from 12 yards. Even in that contest, Orient took the lead after Jamie Jones parried Lee Frecklington’s tame effort, but Adam Collin then saved from Mathieu Baudry and Chris Dagnall to send Rotherham into raptures. |
| Despite the disparity in budgets the teams had been separable only by goal difference in the regular season, so it was perhaps inevitable that they would prove well-matched foes in the final. Both had averaged nearly two goals per game throughout the term and they did not dilute their attacking intent at Wembley. | Despite the disparity in budgets the teams had been separable only by goal difference in the regular season, so it was perhaps inevitable that they would prove well-matched foes in the final. Both had averaged nearly two goals per game throughout the term and they did not dilute their attacking intent at Wembley. |
| Rotherham looked the more dangerous early on, with a strategy that had no pretensions towards elegance but was certainly bothersome. Their defenders and midfielders behaved like medieval artillery men, catapulting missiles into the box from great distance. Revell, Rotherham’s hulking centre-forward, was dominating in the air and nodding the ball down to team-mates as Orient struggled to cope. It was, however, a knockdown by Craig Morgan that forced Jamie Jones to make a close-range save from Wes Thomas in the ninth minute. Orient’s intentions were more intricate, but fluency eluded them and, for all their noble plans, they often finished moves with hopeful lofted passes into the area. Rotherham’s defenders were lapping it up. | |
| It was a surprise, then, when Orient profited from the approach that Rotherham had prioritised. In the 34th minute a long free-kick from Cox was nodded to the edge of the area, from where Odubajo unleashed a thunderous shot into the net. It flew within inches of Collin’s raised hand but the goalkeeper seemed bemused by its trajectory. | It was a surprise, then, when Orient profited from the approach that Rotherham had prioritised. In the 34th minute a long free-kick from Cox was nodded to the edge of the area, from where Odubajo unleashed a thunderous shot into the net. It flew within inches of Collin’s raised hand but the goalkeeper seemed bemused by its trajectory. |
| Four minutes later Orient inflicted further damage. Again it came from the sort of rudimentary plan Rotherham had been following without success. Jones whacked the ball downfield and Kari Arnason inadvertently headed it backwards to David Mooney, whose attempted pass to Cox was headed away by James Tavernier – but only to Odubajo, who fed the ball back across the face of goal for Cox to tap into the net. | Four minutes later Orient inflicted further damage. Again it came from the sort of rudimentary plan Rotherham had been following without success. Jones whacked the ball downfield and Kari Arnason inadvertently headed it backwards to David Mooney, whose attempted pass to Cox was headed away by James Tavernier – but only to Odubajo, who fed the ball back across the face of goal for Cox to tap into the net. |
| Rotherham were reeling. If their manager, Steve Evans, was to lead a team to a fourth successive promotion he would need to find words to put wind in the Millers’ sails. “I just spoke to them about what it meant to them, to their families, their children, their mums and dads – about how they would feel looking back on this day when they are grandads,” said Evans. | |
| Rotherham re-emerged with great determination. Predictably, their break-through came from a set piece. In the 54th minute Tavernier flighted a free-kick into the penalty area and Jones tried to punch it to safety, but it rebounded off Baudry to Revell, who poked it in from six yards. | |
| Revell, a former Orient striker, struck again five minutes later, this time with a marvel. After controlling a breaking ball on his thigh, he sent a dipping shot over the back-pedalling Jones from 30 yards. Such a goal and comeback merited an extraordinary celebration, and Evans duly bounded down the sideline in jubilation before running out of breath. | |
| Now Rotherham were buoyant, and with new-found confidence came a more varied approach. They bobbed and weaved with skill as both teams sought to land a decisive blow. It was gripping fare that had 43,000 supporters rapt. Only one set would leave smiling, however, and Collin’s saves ensured it was those from Rotherham. | Now Rotherham were buoyant, and with new-found confidence came a more varied approach. They bobbed and weaved with skill as both teams sought to land a decisive blow. It was gripping fare that had 43,000 supporters rapt. Only one set would leave smiling, however, and Collin’s saves ensured it was those from Rotherham. |