Double delight

Rovers clinched the League One title in the most amazing fashion as their season came down to less than half a minute at Brentford.

At the New York Stadium, Rotherham got the win they needed against Aldershot to finish runners-up in League Two in their first season back in their home town. York City were also victorious to ensure another season of League football.

A third promotion party, though, was put on hold as Barnsley dented Hull City’s hopes of clinching a place in the Premier League.

Steve Bruce’s side may need to beat champions Cardiff next Saturday, while the final day of the Championship season will be a nervous one for supporters of the Reds, Huddersfield Town and Sheffield Wednesday.

The biggest drama was at Griffin Park where in barely half a minute, Doncaster Rovers went from probable play-off participation to League One champions in an unbelievable finale.

In the fourth minute of stoppage-time, Brentford sub Marcello Trotta hit the bar with a penalty and just 22 seconds later James Coppinger netted at the other end to clinch a remarkable 1-0 victory and the title after Bournemouth drew at Tranmere.

It secured silverware for Brian Flynn, 20 years to the day since his Wrexham side were promoted from the bottom division.

Flynn, appointed as caretaker boss after Dean Saunders’ switch to Wolves in January, is now out of contract and waiting to see if he is handed the job permanently, with chairman John Ryan and the board set to reveal his fate, possibly as early as tomorrow.

On promotion, worth at least £6m in TV revenue to Rovers, Flynn said: “As a manager, I have never been in the Championship. I would relish doing that.

“This is by far my best managerial achievement, by a long way.

“The one word to describe the last minute is crazy. I just thought: ‘Here comes the play-offs’. And within a minute, we are champions. You cannot write a story like that.”

An ecstatic Ryan was left to savour the fourth promotion and second championship of his remarkable tenure.

And he insists no one could begrudge Rovers promotion after their club record 15 away wins in 23 matches.

Ryan said: “That just about beats everything. To come back from conceding a penalty and score and win the title within a minute when we looked like we were going out into the play-offs is unbelievable. It is what dreams are made of. I think overall we deserved to be champions.

“Although I think I died a million deaths in one minute when the penalty was given.”

After the celebrations at the New York Stadium on Saturday, manager Steve Evans returns to work this morning to begin planning for life in League One.

“We were either discussing final arrangements for the play-offs or an early chat about arrangements for next season, so we’ll have an early chat and we’ll hopefully take the players away for a few days,” said Evans.

“Then we come back to the serious bits and pieces and see what we can get sanctioned by our chairman.”

One of the issues to be decided is a new contract for the manager. Millers chairman Tony Stewart offered Evans an extension to a deal that still has two years to run midway through the season but Evans put talks on hold until the end of the campaign. As for his playing staff, Evans – who oversaw a big overhaul in his first pre-season with the club – plans to give the players who won promotion the chance to kick on again next season.

“This group can all play at that level without blinking,” he said. “Four or five could play in the Championship, three of those we rejected bids for in January from Championship clubs.”

Asked for his own emotions, the man who previously led Boston and Crawley to promotion, said: “This is the most special by a country mile. It’s a relief.”

Elsewhere, Sheffield United and Bradford now know their play-off opponents. The Bantams face Burton in the League Two semi-final first leg on Thursday, while United meet Yeovil in League One, at Bramall Lane the following night.