'My mind was completely scrambled' - Our reporters recall Doncaster Rovers' amazing triumph at Brentford

From agony to ecstasy in 18 seconds that will be relived for decades to come.

Here, two of our Rovers writers from the day give their recollections from THAT day at Griffin Park.

LIAM HODEN

In nine years covering Doncaster Rovers, I’ve had the privilege of witnessing some pretty remarkable highs and lows.

But if I ever experience anything like the events of April 27, 2013, again in my career I will have been incredibly lucky.

With two teams meeting in a straight shootout for a place in the Championship, it was always going to be an eventful day.

Drama was likely. Nerves were guaranteed.

I’d travelled down to London alone, parked up next to a station a few stops down from Brentford and got on a pretty quiet train.

The streets leading to Griffin Park were not so shorn of people however. I mazed my way through supporters of both clubs on the tight roads around the ground.

I always felt there was a great deal of confidence within the Brentford support. They’d had a lifeline in the promotion battle and I think plenty expected them to take it.

From Rovers fans there was a nervous energy. Excitement and dread mixed into one.

It had been a long season, filled with great success. But in truth they probably ought to have got the job done before the final day of the campaign.

The Rovers team bus crawled up to the ground with no one really in a great rush to stand aside. A narrow walkway had to be forged by stewards to allow them to enter the ground.

I had my own issues getting in and seemed to be queing for ages to get my pass.

The press box at Griffin Park, back then at least, was probably the tightest in the Football League.

Someone of my considerable heft was never going to be comfortable with the desk pressed up to my belly and having to contort my arms into those of a tyrannosaurus rex in order to type.

And it was packed full. And hot.

The atmosphere that day before the game was befitting of the high stakes occasion. Brentford fans were loud. Expectant.

The Rovers support packed into the two-tier away end. More of a wall than a terrace, putting them right on top of the pitch.

Those guaranteed nerves did not take long to surface and as an edgy affair began to play out, the noise levels gradually dropped.

It was not a blood and thunder battle. Nor was it ever likely to be.

It was a chess match, with one side in the power position and showing no signs of letting that slip.

Rovers had been pragmatic and powerful that season. They had rarely entertained but their tremendous combination of fearless resolve and determination saw them through, ultimately to promotion.

But there was one more hurdle. An inexplicable few minutes that was so difficult to take in, culminating in 18 seconds of pure madness that saw agony melt into joy.

The injury time penalty, the argument over who would take it, the ball cannoning off the bar, the break, the finish, the celebration, the flares.

I had the job of filing a report for the Green Un. It was to be the last ever Rovers report for the printed version of the grand old institution of South Yorkshire football.

To ensure it hit the streets within minutes of the final whistles sounding, reports were filed on a running basis, meaning the majority of it was done before that dramatic finish.

Thankfully, I’d tailored the piece around one season coming down to just one game. It allowed me to finish with a flourish - that one season had come down to 18 seconds.

Not that composing myself to digest what had played out in front of me was so simple. I remember having to shake myself into action to get it done.

Then came a real privilege. Heading down to the pitch, in front of an away end that was still bouncing, to grab players, staff and senior figures for interviews.

Speaking to Brian Flynn, John Ryan and James Coppinger mere moments after that incredible finish was a real honour.

And stopping players on their way back to the bus, when they had chance to settle themselves after redecorating the away dressing room in energy drink.

Even then, everyone was still attempting to fathom what they had experienced.

I remember the drive back north with colleagues Peter Catt and Paul Goodwin, when ‘I just can’t believe it’ was said every few minutes.

It was incredible. Unforgettable. And you’ll not get me to agree than any other finish to any other game was as significant.

The departure of Brentford from Griffin Park at the end of the current season will be one to lament for those of a Rovers persuasion there on that day.

No longer will we have memories flooding back when stumbling across the Bees on TV, shots of that away end bringing thoughts of limbs flailing and flares alight.

But those memories will never die. And we can be thankful for that.

PETER CATT

I ended up in a press overspill area that day because there was no room in the pressbox. They put us up in the top left corner of the stand as you looked at the pitch, close to the Rovers fans.

My memory of it is that I lost my memory, probably for the first time ever covering Rovers.

It had been a grind and Rovers had done ever so well to keep it at 0-0. I don’t know if that was the gameplan but the defence had done really well.

All of a sudden that happened at the end and it just sent my head into a spin.

I was thinking ‘what happens if they score, are we going into the play-offs?’ I just couldn’t work it out.

I was such a blow, it sort of numbed me. Then there was the argy bargy over who was taking it and the next thing the ball is up the other end.

When we scored, I didn’t even know what the score was.

For some reason I thought it was 1-1.

My mind was completely scrambled.

I didn’t realise we’d won the league but I quickly got my head around that we’d gone up.

It was just unbelievable really.

There had not been a lot of exciting football that season. We ground a lot of things out.

We saved all the excitement that season for the last few seconds.

The players went crazy, the fans went crazy. I definitely went crazy - it just wouldn’t sink in what had happened.

*

A message from the Editor:

Thank you for reading this story on our website. While I have your attention, I also have an important request to make of you.

In order for us to continue to provide high quality and trusted local news on this free-to-read site, I am asking you to also please purchase a copy of our newspaper.

Our journalists are highly trained and our content is independently regulated by IPSO to some of the most rigorous standards in the world. But being your eyes and ears comes at a price. So we need your support more than ever to buy our newspapers during this crisis.

With the coronavirus lockdown having a major impact on many of our local valued advertisers - and consequently the advertising that we receive - we are more reliant than ever on you helping us to provide you with news and information by buying a copy of our newspaper.

Thank you

Nancy Fielder, editor