Simon Cox picked the perfect moment to score his first goal for West Bromwich Albion with a 116th minute winner that sent his side into Carling Cup third round draw.
This fixture looked destined for a penalty shoot-out as both sides found themselves inseparable with four minutes of the half-an-hour period of extra time remaining.
The Baggies had led twice during normal time, thanks to Scottish duo Craig Beattie and Graham Dorrans, but had twice been pegged back by Rotherham United through Micky Cummins and Tom Pope to leave the scoreboard at 2-2 after 90 minutes.
Pope had looked to have secured a giant-killing in extra-time when a defensive mix-up between the hopeless centre-half partnership of Leon Barnett and Abdoulaye Meite had gifted him a second. However a Beattie wonder-strike left the Hawthorns anticipating a spot-kick showdown.
That was until Cox, who had suffered a largely frustrating night, picked up a loose ball from Chris Wood’s jinking run into the box and slammed home from close range.
In total, manager Roberto Di Matteo made nine changes to the side that beat Ipswich Town on Saturday.
The most notable face in the hosts’ starting XI was that of shamed striker Roman Bednar who returned from his three-month Football Association-imposed ban for the use and possession of cocaine to make his first Albion appearance since the beginning of April.
Centre-back Meite and midfielder Borja Valero, who are both firmly in the shop window, were also handed their first starts of the season.
Elsewhere Dorrans returned from a one-match ban while Reuben Reid lined up from the off against his former club, having impressed in the first round victory at Bury.
It wasn’t long before Bednar attracted attention for the right reasons.
Firstly in the eighth minute, the exiled Czech international delivered a neat throughball that cut through the middle of the Millers’ defence and fed Reid, who looked to have done enough to scramble the ball home only for Jamie Green to track back and clear the effort off the line.
Then, two minutes later, it looked as if Bednar had made a dream return to the team with the opening goal of the night. Beattie, playing on the left wing, delivered a curling, right-footed effort from his flank that ended up in the far corner. However it initially looked as if it had taken a deflection off Bednar’s knee on the way in, as was signalled by the stadium announcer.
Slight confusion followed but Bednar’s immediate reaction suggested that it was Beattie’s goal and the Scotsman was duly awarded his second of the season.
Bednar again came close to registering a goal of his own when it looked as though Reid’s delivery had picked him out six yards from goal, but Green did enough to stamp out the danger.
Just as it looked as though the home side were about to enjoy a leisurely stroll into the third round draw, Rotherham hit back with an equaliser in the 29th minute. The impressive Green delivered an inch-perfect ball from the left which found the rising head of Cummins, who thumped his effort beyond the reach of Kiely.
Albion gave themselves another opportunity to ensure a smooth transition into the next round by edging back in front six minutes into the second-half.
Dorrans picked up Bednar’s ball on the edge of the Rotherham area, wonderfully cut inside to completely fool Nick Fenton before casually firing his shot into the top left-hand corner.
Yet there was no holding Rotherham back as the visitors from south Yorkshire immediately went up the other end and levelled terms. Nicky Law’s corner found Pope unmarked in the area and the striker made no mistake with his header to give their opponents more work to do.
Bednar and Cox both were both denied by some desperate Rotherham defending but this tie looked destined for extra time.
Dorrans’ magic almost rubbed off just four minutes into the extended period. when the midfielder had Warrington at full stretch to divert his rasping drive.
The defensive duo of Meite and Barnett’s night went from bad to worse in the 98th minute as Rotherham put their noses in front for the first time. Meite’s tame header across the face of goal was weakly nodded into the path of Pope by Barnett and the Millers hit-man smashed home from close range.
Having seen Pope complete his brace, Beattie appeared determine to do the same and did exactly that in style three minutes later. The ex-Celtic man picked up Cummings cross on the far side of the area and hammered a rising effort into the top corner from 25-yards.
Just as the Hawthorns were bracing themselves for a shoot-out that neither side would have wanted, Cox pounced to put the Baggies in the hat for Saturday’s draw.
WEST BROMWICH ALBION: (4-4-2): Kiely; Cummings, Barnett, Meite, Cech (Mattock 64); Reid (Mulumbu 79), Dorrans, Valero, Beattie; Cox, Bednar (Wood 64).
ROTHERHAM UNITED: (4-4-2): Warrington; Tongue, Joseph, Fenton (Taylor 94), Green; Liddell (Ellison 76), Harrison, Mills (Nicholas 119), Law; Pope, Cummins. Subs not used: Annerson, Brogan, Lynch, Taylor.
