Rotherham 2 Daggers 3

DAGENHAM & Redbridge will play League One football next season after a thrilling 3-2 victory over Rotherham United in the League Two play-off final at Wembley.

The Daggers led three times during the contest thanks to goals from Paul Benson, Danny Green and Jon Nurse and finally were able to cling on to stave off a late barrage from the Millers to book their place alongside the likes of Charlton, Southampton and Sheffield Wednesday in League One next season.

Thirteen thousand Daggers fans made the trip to Wembley and what they witnessed will live long in the memory; a game that was well worth the occasion and epitomised the team's entertaining, attacking philosophy.

Benson grabbed the first of Dagenham's goals, a stunning one touch and swivelled shot move that sent the fans into raptures. It did not last long however, as Ryan Taylor's header levelled for Rotherham a minute later.

Green's magnificent finish early in the second half fired them in front once again, but again the Millers hit back through Taylor. But when Nurse's deflected effort bulged the net 20 minutes from time, the Daggers held on to claim the greatest result in their short 18-year history.

Dagenham enjoyed the better of the opening exchanges, pressurising their opponents high up the pitch. However, a tantalising Nurse cross that was easily dealt with was the closest they came to nicking a goal.

As the game grew older Rotherham began to exert themselves, with Taylor in particular causing plenty of problems for the Daggers' backline. Goalkeeper Tony Roberts was beaten all ends up from the striker's first headed attempt, but the ball did not have the beating of the far post. The keeper was alive to the second header from Taylor, diving to collect the ball.

Then came Dagenham's turn to threaten. And they did so in spectacular fashion, Roman Vincelot almost scoring a goal to remember. Abu Ogogo swung the ball towards the French midfielder in the box, who contorted his body and executed a perfect bicycle kick that brought a stunning save from Andy Warrington.

Minutes later the keeper was at it again. This time Jon Nurse was brought crashing to ground en route to goal and, unsurprisingly, it was Green who stepped over the kick, thumping a shot through the wall that Warrington, who was unsighted, did superbly to get a hand to.

Just five minutes later, with 38 on the clock, Dagenham were ahead. Damien McCrory was released down the right from a quick free-kick from Mark Arber. He sent a low cross into the box that Benson brought immediately under his spell before spinning on the spot and curtling the ball inside the near post.

However, no sooner had the celebrations ended than there were cheers from the opposite end of the stadium, as Rotherham went straight down the other end and equalised.

After winning a throw-in from the kick-off, Kevin Ellison was left totally unmarked on the far touchline and he floated a ball into the middle that Taylor was only too grateful to meet with a powerful header that found the top corner.

The Millers piled on the pressure as the half drew to a close and the Daggers had Scott Doe to thank for keeping the scores level, the defender getting in the way of a fierce Ellison drive.

The high-octane action continued unabated after the interval. Dagenham were the team in the ascendancy this time, and with less than ten minutes on the clock they had the lead once again.

Green found himself exactly where he wanted to be - one-on-one with left-back Gavin Gunning. With bodies in the box to aim at, the winger had just one thing on his mind. He ran at the defender, dropped the shoulder and unleashed an unstoppable thunderbolt into the far corner of the net, sparking more scenes of ecstasy from the 13,000 Dagenham fans.

One would have thought that John Still's men had learned their lesson from the first half. And, while the ball stayed out of the net for the first minute, it was in the goal just four minutes later.

Danny Harrison first missed a contender for spurned chance of the season, somehow kicking the ball into the ground and on to the bar from two yards after Mark Lynch's superb ball across the face of goal.

It was not to matter, however, as some sloppy defending allowed Nicky Law to get to the byline and drag the ball back into the area, where Taylor was waiting in plenty of space to rifle home a low shot into the bottom corner for the leveller.

All square once again. The game was quickly turning into a classic, arguably outstripping the entertainment Wembley witnessed in the Championship play-off final between Cardiff and Blackpool.

But the drama was not finished there. Just two minutes later, Doe made a remarkable last-ditch tackle to deny Ellison a clear run at goal and, on 64 minutes Josh Scott shaved the post with an ambitious strike from a seemingly impossible angle.

Both sides were going for the jugular, but Dagenham once again got their noses in front. Green won a corner down the right flank and swung the ball into the mix. The ball deflected out to the feet of Nurse, who stabbed goalwards, only for Ellison to inadvertently get a touch to the ball that wrong-footed Warrington.

Cue pandemonium in the stands and on the pitch. With 20 minutes to go, Dagenham & Redbridge were in touching distance of a place in League One, completing a miraculous transformation from non-league also-rans to winning a place in English football's third tier.

Rotherham threw the kitchen sink at the Daggers' goal but the Victoria Road side, with their backs to the wall, clung on, cheered all the way by their raucous supporters.

The scenes that greeted the final whistle will live long in the memory of Still, the players and the supporters who had made the short trip from Dagenham.