Winner Wiles, super-sub Ladapo, Thommo's tribute and the away end ... the story of Accrington Stanley 1 Rotherham United 2

"Why do they want me?" he enquired. "I played for only 20 minutes."

Why him? The little matter of his 91st-minute goal at Accrington Stanley that had just kept Rotherham United at the top of League One.

Young Ben, Rotherham-born-and-bred Ben, had brought bedlam to the bouncing away end but still had to go through the warm-down with his fellow substitutes.

As soon as he was done the Millers media team intervened and the still-sweating match-winner was ushered in front of journalists standing on the Wham Stadium touchline.

"It's a great feeling to score any goal but when it's the winner and comes so late it means even more," he said.

"It shows what kind of team we are. It wasn't the best performance but good sides manage to find ways to get the job done."

On another day, Freddie Ladapo might have been the story. The hotshot can't get a start but can't stop scoring and his third second-half strike in his last four outings off the bench set the Millers on their way to their 2-1 victory in freezing, windswept Lancashire.

Fifteen goals now for on-fire Freddie. Thirteen league matches with only one defeat for Rotherham who have taken 32 points on their travels already this season, one more than they managed in their entire third-tier promotion campaign of 2017/18.

The crucial header

The significance of Saturday's victory, three days before the Millers do battle at second-placed Coventry City, wasn't lost on Paul Warne.

"It felt like one of the most satisfying wins I've ever had as a manager," he said. "It's always the same away from home when you shoot towards your own fans. There were a lot there so I thank them.

"For that goal to go in that late on ... I was thinking: 'Please let us hang on.' It was a nervy last five minutes. I'm really pleased."

Two subs, two goals. "Yeah, I'm so good, aren't I?" grinned the boss who was brave enough to change things in pursuit of three points rather than settle for one.

"I thought Freddie would cause Accrington different problems," he said. "It was a game for athletes and I thought 'Pace'. Wilesy has a lot of pace. I don't think people appreciate how quick he is.

"I also brought on Josh Koroma for Michael Smith. With Josh, I knew a lot of the fans would think I was crazy. Who takes off Smudge, who is a hero, when there's 15 minutes to go and you need a goal?

"I just thought Josh would also cause them different problems and he did. I thought he was really good. In training this week, the back-up team, so to speak, played the first team and were excellent. I know I can trust any of them at any time.

"I'm not afraid to take Smudge off - don't get me wrong, I was a bit nervy! - but us winning in the end makes it worth it."

And so the promotion songs were given yet another airing in yet another packed Millers stand.

These days, Rotherham supporters don't travel in hope, they travel en masse in noisy expectation. That's what the best away record in the division does for you.

THE MATCH

Minutes 57 and 91 are why it's so good to be an away-day Miller.

Long before Wiles covered himself in glory, fans covered themselves in credit with rousing applause in support of Adam Thompson who had lost his father, aged 57, only days earlier.

Despite his grief, the defender still managed to take his place in the squad. His partner, mum and brother were also inside the stadium.

"I'd like to dedicate the win to Thommo's dad," Warne said. "We lost Mark last weekend, which was brutal. We've had a really emotional season (behind the scenes). We've had a lot of loss, a lot of heartache. Hopefully it will be a bit of sunshine for Mark's family.

"We're a really close group. I said to the lads before the game: 'We win together, we lose together, we smile together, we mourn together, we hurt together."

Among the applauding supporters were those who had parked their coaches at Bury FC en route to the game to spend money in the pubs surrounding Gigg Lane and offer a boost to businesses who have lost out since their club's demise.

The first half was one to forget. Only Dan Iversen will know how he let Dion Charles brush through him in the 24th minute. Only Matt Olosunde will know how he managed to cover the ground to pull off a stunning sliding tackle as the Accrington man was shaping to shoot into an unguarded net.

Freddie Ladapo scores

Ladapo was introduced just after the hour mark and three minutes later the Millers were ahead. For the umpteenth time this term, Michael Ihiekwe got on the end of a Dan Barlaser corner at the back post and the centre-half's header back across goal allowed the sub to apply a typical close-range poacher's finish.

Accrington, game, committed and having won their previous three matches, were level within a minute, Jordan Clark firing the ball into the ground and into the net from around eight yards.

Yet the Millers kept pushing, pressing and probing and earned their reward when the match was in the first of six stoppage-time minutes as Barlaser crossed and Wiles glanced a lovely header into the corner of the net.

"I've got an alreyt leap on me," said the 20-year-old, betraying his Rotherham upbringing, after the first headed goal of his career.

There was still time for more drama. Offrande Zanzala should have buried a header for an equaliser but was off target and Matt Crooks curled a sumptuous effort on to the bar just as the referee was raising the final whistle to his lips.

The Millers management trio, Warne, Richie Barker and Matt Hamshaw, had been chatting pitchside with cricket commentator and mad Stanley fan David Lloyd before kick-off.

Even 'Bumble', who'd been following his side's fortunes on iPlayer in Johannesburg a week earlier, must have doffed his flat cap to the visitors. Howzat for promotion-worthy resilience?

"I was disappointed with the first-half performance. I don't think we played the conditions very well and Accrington caused us problems," Warne said. "They should have gone a goal up, in fairness.

"Our second-half display probably justified the victory. We weren't as good as usual at set-pieces. Maybe that was down to the wind. We did enough to win and to score so late on makes it feel like an even bigger win.

"In the first half, we didn't put enough decent crosses in. We hit the first man so many times.

You have to make the opposition defend. The wind makes life difficult for goalkeepers so it's an advantage for strikers. The conditions weren't great but they were the same for both teams."

Ladapo's impact couldn't be ignored. "When he came on he was a real bright spark," his manager acknowledged. "His attitude in training has been spot on.

"He just backs himself to score goals. His mobility today when he came on was the difference. He was definitely more mobile than the other two (Smith and Kyle Vassell). They've all got different strengths.

"The way Accrington were at the back, they were probably more set up for playing against Smudge. Vass couldn't really get into it in a '10' role and link up play.

"It just wasn't the conditions for that sort of game. It suited Freddie. I'm really pleased he got a goal. He's smiling away for fun."

He wasn't the only one.

Rotherham have won nine and drawn two of their last 12 league matches. If they repeat that in their final 12 games they will go up.

THOSE FANS

Against a backdrop of Lancashire hills, Rotherham supporters stood in exposed resistance, symbols of red-and-white resolve.

There was no roof, no respite, no protection from the winter weather. Against the elements, they were in their element.

What wind? What cold? As Wiles settled the contest right in front of his own followers the away end was a hothouse of boiling, lung-screaming, head-exploding joy.

Stewards somehow kept most of them off the turf, the thin yellow line standing firm against the Millers in a way the home side had, finally, been unable to.

Celebrations were going off everywhere, the mayhem on the terrace behind the goal and in the covered seats to one side matching the intensity on the pitch.

"The lads know what I think about them," Warne said. "We'll go the extra mile for them and maybe you get it back because the players will go the extra mile for you.

"You could see what it meant to them when they scored. The whole bench was up, everyone was buzzing. I'm really proud to be their manager."

A Rotherham boy scoring in front of Rotherham fans. He's one of their own.

It was Wiles, it was wild, it was wonderful. Or as a certain match-winning resident of Rawmarsh might say:

Reyt good.

Accrington (4-4-2): Josef Bursik; Callum Johnson, Ross Sykes, Mark Hughes, Ajibola Alese; Jordan Clark, Seamus Conneely, Sam Finley, Joe Pritchard (Offrande Zanzala 90); Dion Charles (Colby Bishop 80), Benny Ashley-Seal (Bobby Grant 80). Subs not used: Toby Savin, Joe Maguire, Ben Barclay, Sadou Diallo.

Rotherham (4-4-2): Dan Iversen; Matt Olosunde, Michael Ihiewke, Richard Wood, Joe Mattock; Chiedozie Ogbene, Matt Crooks, Dan Barlaser, Hakeeb Adelakun (Freddie Ladapo 61); Kyle Vassell (Ben Wiles 71), Michael Smith (Josh Koroma 81). Subs not used: Lewis Price, Adam Thompson, Shaun MacDonald, Jamie Lindsay.

Goals: Ladapo 64 (Rotherham) Wiles 90+1; Clark 65 (Accrington).

Referee: Seb Stockbridge (Tyne And Wear).

Attendance: 3,447 (1,577).