Rotherham 2-1 Shrewsbury: League One play-off final – as it happened

Here’s the match report from Nick Miller.

Congratulations, Rotherham, who can look forward to Villa Park, Stoke, The Hawthorns and the Liberty. Commiserations to Shrewsbury, who get to go to Sunderland. The best team won, it has to be said. Now, one play-off to go. Coventry v Exeter on Monday. Who will be travelling to the New Meadow?

Rotherham manager Paul Warne speaks

They went toe to toe with us, I am really proud of my group of lads. It was a horrendous 12 months last year. [On Wood] I call him my wrecking ball. He is prepared to break his nose for the team. His attacking and defending set pieces was the difference. The only person I didn’t want to beat was [Shrewsbury manager Paul Hurst] Hursty, but Hursty will go on to great things.

Two-goal hero Richard Wood speaks.

I am speechless. We’ve come so far from last season, it was terrible. To turn it around in the manager great credit. To get a brace has never been heard of. I see my kids crying in the stands. That’s what it’s all about. I am proud to do it for them.

Richard Wood the two-goal hero, while Shrewsbury experience the desolation of losing in the play-off. Rotherham were the better team.

120 mins: A whiff of a chance, but then Richard Wood, our hero, steps in to quell the danger. He can barely stand up straight or walk, but they shall not pass.

120 mins: There are two added minutes here.

118 mins: Break on for Shrewsbury? No, Rotherham get men back. And at the other end, Williams weaves into the opposing area. He goes down. Penalty? Don’t be daft. He went down in stages.

116 mins: Rodak has to come out to claim the ball. Rotherham beginning to camp a little deeply for comfort. They get a break when Godfrey crops down Vaulks, who has stud marks right down the back of his calf. Nasty business.

115 mins: Shrewsbury free-kick now. Whalley’s free-kick went a long way and Rodak had to dig it out. Rotherham’s keeper did well and then Williams helped shut down a danger that is quelled by a silly foul by John-Lewis.

113 mins: Rodman, bandaged up, cramped up, rises to win a header and also smiling. Some stones on the man.

112 mins: Shrews have played 62 matches this season, more than Liverpool or Manchester City, so it is little shock to see their players going down with cramp.

111 mins: It’s all Rotherham, still, and that’s bad news for Shrewsbury fans. Their small squad, which was punching above its weight, looks to have seized up.

110 mins: Off goes Joe Newell, the creator of that Wood goal, and on comes Anthony Forde, no slouch himself as an attacker. Paul Warne continuing to be progressive.

109 mins: Rotherham on the attack. Williams, outstanding since coming on, up against Beckles again, and this time the Shrews defender does well.

108 mins: Here come Shrewsbury. Beckles on the charge. Calls for a pen? No, the opposite. A goal-kick.

107 mins: Will Rotherham sit back on this? They have been on the front foot all game, and that has been the difference.

106 mins: OK, 15 minutes to save the Shrews. And for the Millers to see this out.

The huddles break and the second half of extra time can begin. The two Pauls can do no more now.

Jenny Britnell emails in: “c’m on you Shrews.! We are following your commentary - somewhat nervously on slow internet connection in the middle on the English Channel - it will all be over before we know it - literally ..”

Sorry to be the bearer of such bad news.

105 mins: Half-time in extra-time. Credit must go to Joe Newell’s set-piece for that Wood goal.

105 mins: At the other end, the heroic Wood clears the danger of a Shrewsbury attack. Two minutes added in this period of extra-time.

104 mins: The guilty party there was Shrewsbury’s John-Lewis. He cannot even use tiredness as an excuse, as he was a second-half sub. It was a forward’s attempt to defend.

102 mins: Sadler yellow-carded for a tackle on Williams. The referee recognised its cynicism.

101 mins: Nolan knocked over, by Lavery, to ease a bit of pressure in extra-time.

99 mins: Newell’s free-kick is high, and Dean Henderson again comes for the ball to get it clear. He is never slow in coming forward. Eventually, Towell gets a shot in that flies miles over.

97 mins: A break in play, as goalscorer Rodman has bleeding from his bonce.

96 mins: Whalley’s corner is cleared. Ryan Williams on the run. Whalley commits the foul, and he is on a yellow card. This referee has let plenty go without being as, well, negligent as Anthony Taylor in the Championship game.

95 mins: Williams ran at Beckles, but this time the Shrewsbury defender did his job well. Godfrey surges to the byline and wins a corner at the other end.

94 mins: Penalties have a magnetic pull on these occasions and it is difficult to see beyond them at this point.

93 mins: Sadler makes a hurried clearance. Rotherham piling it on again, but Joe Newell’s shot is poor.

91 mins: It’s leggy stuff, as might be expected, with Omar Beckles, who looks cream crackered, lamping the ball into touch when he had team-mates on. Rotherham will look to target Beckles, though they have done that all day, to be fair.

Here we go, then. The team talks are done. Shrewsbury have made all three subs, while Rotherham have one to go.

Michael Connellan emails in: “Hi John, Great coverage of the game - thanks. Thought I’d point out that Richard Wood is not just a leader on the pitch. Off the pitch, he supports a type 1 diabetes charity, JDRF, following the diagnosis of his son with the condition. Nacho has type 1 diabetes and he won the Champions League yesterday.”

90 mins+5: What a save! Williams cut in from the right-hand side. His shot was arrowing into the goal...but Henderson got a firm hand to it, somehow. That was the one!

90 mins+4: Shrewsbury digging in, and Jay Emmanuel’s efforts to force a run down the wing are stopped by a series of agricultural tackles.

90 mins+3: Rotherham the team pushing the hardest here.

90 mins+2: Nsiala came across to stop a Williams run. Another Rotherham corner. Henderson came a long way to get nowhere near it, and is lucky that Will Vaulks cannot get a shot on target.

90 mins: 5 (FIVE!) minutes of added time has been declared, and both teams look tired enough to concede.

88 mins: Wood was the target again for a Rotherham corner, but Riley got in his way.

87 mins: Chances at both ends. Whalley has a shot saved by Rodak and when Smith looked to be pushing through, John Nolan’s tackle stopped him.

86 mins: Michael Hann tweets in again. Our original estimate not far off, then.

85 mins: Oof, close. Rotherham’s Smith went close, but just as he seemed to have to got past Henderson, the goalkeeper managed to get a claw on the ball.

84 mins: In these times of high-profile goalkeeping mistakes, thoughts go out to the goalies.

83 mins: An understandable slowing of hostilities at this late stage. Here’s when the cramp starts appearing, and as Kevin Keegan famously said, that is worse than a broken leg.

81 mins: Into the last ten minutes we go, and it’s hugely difficult to work out which way this one is going. Extra-time seems like it would be the favourite.

80 mins: Michael Hann, a colleague at Guardian Towers, tweets in: “Am at Wembley. Can’t help feeling they would get better crowds with better pricing. £80 for our seats among Shrews fans at side. Yes, it’s Wembley but it’s also L1 football.”

79 mins: Lavery again in the mix as Rotherham try to find their winner, but John-Lewis, at the other end, has a shot on goal from the right side of the box. Rodak dived and was beaten, but so was the post.

77 mins: Shrewsbury at last have a chance to get on the attack, but fail to make much of their chance to either get breathing space or find a potential winner.

76 mins: Lavery is finding the same space that David Ball found in the first half, and has another effort on goal.

75 mins: Rotherham sub: On comes Williams for Taylor.

73 mins: And Lavery should have scored! In an inside left position, he had the goal gaping and tried a chip. Vaulks now fires one in. Rotherham have recovered their dominance now.

72 mins: Final Shrewsbury sub: Joe Riley has come on for Bolton at right-back.

70 mins: Rotherham sub: Wood, so excellent in that first half hour, got tired and has left the field to be replaced by Lavery.

69 mins: Rotherham piling it back on now. Vaulks’ shot squirts through and Henderson makes the save when he was unsighted.

67 mins: That Shrewsbury goal brought back memories of well-worked free-kick, but mine has failed me.

Initially thought it was like this Brolin goal from 1994 but there was actually one more touch by Shrews.