Rotherham lift Papa John’s Trophy after fightback sinks Sutton in extra time

This is not the competition that will define whether Rotherham United deem this a successful season but after Jordi Osei-Tutu’s 96th-minute equaliser ensured a topsy-turvy game went to extra time, they put their foot down to secure what they hope will not be the only silverware of the campaign. A stunning strike by Chiedozie Ogbene, who recently scored for the Republic of Ireland against Belgium, registered Rotherham’s third goal of the afternoon to set them on their way to lifting the EFL Trophy before Michael Ihiekwe sealed the comeback against Sutton.

With their promotion quest on the back burner for the weekend, Rotherham came into this game as favourites but the League One leaders were faced with a team with little appetite to hang around League Two for long and seemingly no care for expectations. At the start of the season the Sutton chairman of 26 years, Bruce Elliott, present for the club’s last trip to Wembley, when they lost to Bishop’s Stortford in the 1981 FA Trophy final, and manager Matt Gray set out a 50-point target, which they surpassed with three months and the small matter of a cup final to spare.

The precursor to kick-off was surreal – Paul Chuckle and Tim Vine, celebrity fans of Rotherham and Sutton respectively, whizzed round the pitch on Papa Johns-branded mopeds before delivering the match ball on to a plinth – and the match itself was equally entertaining. Richard Wood, who scored twice in Rotherham’s League One playoff final win here in 2018, got up for an early header but it was Sutton who had the first real sight of goal. David Ajiboye did the leg work, storming forward and evading four red shirts before laying the ball on for Will Randall, who dragged wide.

Both teams had won one of their five previous matches but the Rotherham manager Paul Warne conceded that picking holes while they remain a point clear of third-placed MK Dons, with seven league games to play, is akin to “millionaire problems”. But Rotherham were ruffled when Donovan Wilson opened the scoring, coolly picking his spot after they failed to clear Ajiboye’s cross and until Ben Wiles’s spectacular effort crashed in off the underside of the crossbar they seemed short of initiative.

Suddenly Rotherham were energised, leading scorer Michael Smith testing Dean Bouzanis in the Sutton goal, but Sutton pressed the reset button three minutes into the second half, with their captain and former Arsenal trainee Craig Eastmond scooping in after his initial shot was blocked, to regain the lead.

The Sutton substitute Isaac Olaofe rattled the side netting in search of a killer third goal and Bouzanis was kept busy at the other end. He was alert to prevent a deflected Wiles shot squeezing inside a post and then Rotherham squandered a couple of openings that it seemed would live with them on the journey home.

The substitute Freddie Ladapo shot straight at Bouzanis after latching on to a defence-splitting pass and Smith fired over but six minutes into seven minutes of stoppage time another substitute, Osei-Tutu, thrashed in to take the game to extra time.

From there, Rotherham ratcheted through the gears. Ogbene took one touch to steady himself before dispatching a thunderous right-foot strike into the top corner six minutes into extra time and the defender Ihiekwe headed in to clinch victory in the fourth.