Tierney secures Rovers' return

Dagenham & Redbridge 2 Doncaster Rovers 3

Following a five-year absence, Doncaster Rovers will return to the Nationwide League next season after Francis Tierney's golden goal three minutes into the second half of extra-time settled the inaugural Conference play-off final here yesterday.

Tierney's strike, set up by the Doncaster captain and one-time Stoke player Paul Barnes, ended a stunning fightback by Dagenham & Redbridge, who had been two goals down after 54 minutes but recovered to take a dramatic contest into extra-time.

Doncaster, who went close to extinction after dropping out of the League in 1998, will join the Conference champions Yeovil in the Third Division next season, while their beaten opponents must digest another heartbreaking end to the season, a year after they were pipped to the 2002 Conference title by Boston United.

Rovers went ahead after 38 minutes of a first half which they controlled. Tony Roberts, the Dagenham goalkeeper, had already saved from Barnes and Jamie Paterson and a Steve Foster effort had been cleared off the Dagenham line before Paul Green broke the deadlock, heading home Tim Ryan's cross.

The contest looked over when Doncaster scored a second goal nine minutes into the second half. The centre-back Dave Morley met Tierney's corner kick with a powerful header that found the Dagenham net via a post.

Tierney squandered a golden chance to put Doncaster three up when he headed a Paterson cross wide and the 27-year-old midfielder admitted afterwards he thought the game had slipped away from his side after Dagenham staged their comeback.

"At 2-2 they could have killed us off and I didn't have much left in my legs in extra-time," he said. "I missed a great chance to make it three but Barnesy put it on a plate for me to score the winner. It is the best day of my career."

Tierney, who has played for Crewe, Notts County and, ironically, just-relegated Exeter, missed six months of the season after an Achilles tendon operation. The Doncaster manager, Dave Penney, paid tribute to his resilience. "He has done fantastically to come back so well and he is one of those players, with League experience, who make me believe we can hold our own next year," Penney said.

Dagenham were understandably dejected after their second-half recovery, started by the one-time Chelsea and Stoke striker Mark Stein and completed by Tarkan Mustafa – a member of the Rushden & Diamonds side promoted from the Conference in 2001 – ultimately came to nothing.

Their manager, Garry Hill, said: "This hurts so much after last year but I'm proud of my players for getting us this far."

Dagenham & Redbridge 2
Stein 63, Mustafa 78

Doncaster Rovers 3
Green 39, Morley 55, Tierney 110 (golden goal)

Half-time: 0-1 Attendance: 13,092