Rotherham's Lee Frecklington saw his shot saved before his goalkeeper Adam Collin denied both Mathieu Baudry and Chris Dagnall to ensure a 4–3 victory.

A 25-yard (23 m) volley from Joe Garner four minutes into the second half to equalise the match; Rotherham manager Steve Evans described it as the "goal of the century".

Paul Gallagher put Preston ahead from a free kick after sixteen minutes, but headed goals from Wes Thomas and Lee Frecklington made it 2–1 to Rotherham at half time.

After a goalless first half, Dean Cox put Leyton Orient ahead in the 60th minute with a volley after his initial shot was blocked.

[16] Agard was Rotherham's highest scorer with 25 goals, while Dave Mooney was the top marksman for Leyton Orient with 19, followed by Kevin Lisbie on 16.

[21] Leyton Orient named a squad for the final which was unchanged from their second leg semi-final play-off victory over Peterborough United, while Rotherham made one change, with Richard Brindley replacing Daniel Rowe on the bench.

[4][6][22] Both managers considered their opposition team to be the favourites to win the match, while bookmakers Betfair gave marginally shorter odds on Rotherham than Leyton Orient to take the victory.

In the 8th minute, the Rotherham goalkeeper Adam Collin took a free kick which Craig Morgan headed down to Thomas whose shot was gathered by Jamie Jones in the Leyton Orient goal.

Dean Cox took the resulting free kick which Clarke headed out, only for Odubajo to strike the ball left-footed through a crowd of players into the roof of the Rotherham goal to put Leyton Orient into a 1–0 lead after 34 minutes.

The first chance of the second half fell to Tavernier whose direct free kick from 25 yards (23 m) cleared the Leyton Orient wall but also the crossbar.

Jones dropped the long ball and it fell to the former Leyton Orient player Revell who struck it into an empty net, halving Rotherham's deficit.

[17][22] Five minutes later, Revell doubled his tally from around 35 yards (32 m) and brought the game level at 2–2; receiving the ball knocked down by Lisbie from a Pringle pass, he struck what Jonathan Liew of The Daily Telegraph described as a "remarkable volley that looped over Jones and into the net".

In a half of few chances, both sides saw shots blocked but no clear opportunities to score, and extra time ended 2–2, sending the final to a penalty shootout.

[17][22] Rotherham's Agard opened the shootout, scoring down the centre, with Lloyd James equalising with a strike into the top-right corner of the net.

Frecklington's attempt was saved by Jones down to his left before Lundstram put Leyton Orient into a 2–1 lead with a high shot to the middle of the goal.

[24] The Leyton Orient owner Barry Hearn stated that he would honour his promise to take his players to Las Vegas the week after the final, with Slade saying it could be "just the tonic they need".

[25] The Rotherham manager Evans dedicated the victory to two ill family members and recounted: "All season the boys have continued to fight adversity ... You need to retain that inner belief".

[25] Asked how he encouraged the Rotherham second half performance, Evans said: "I just spoke to them about what it meant to them, to their families, their children, their mums and dads – about how they would feel looking back on this day when they are grandads.