Miller time for victorious Quakers

Kennedy: Got Darlo off to a great start

Miller headed home fellow substitute Neil Wainwright's free-kick with time running out after Dale's Chris Dagnall had cancelled out Jason Kennedy's stunning first-half opener.

Dagnall worked tirelessly throughout and was also denied by the woodwork shortly before midfielder Kennedy, on loan from Middlesbrough, beat goalkeeper Tommy Lee with a sublime 18-yard shot just after the half-hour mark.

Dagnall then hauled the sides level 20 minutes from time with a 20-yard deflected shot before Miller climbed off the bench to make a sensational impact at a partisan Darlington Arena.

Dave Penney's side now head to Spotland for the second leg next Saturday clear favourites to progress to the final.

The hosts made light of their poor form going into the game - the Quakers ended the regular season with just one win in nine while Dale started the day unbeaten in 10 - and were unfortunate not to score twice in the opening 10 minutes. Scott Wiseman first shrugged off several half-hearted challenges to burst into the penalty area, only to be denied by Lee's sprawling legs.

Lee, a former Manchester United trainee, then blocked Micky Cummins' rasping drive from 10 yards after good work on the left flank from Rob Purdie.

Sandwiched between Lee's superb early saves, Dagnall dispossessed Alan White and beat goalkeeper David Stockdale with a curling shot which cannoned to safety off the crossbar in a breathless start to the first leg.

When the opening goal duly arrived after 28 minutes it came courtesy of a moment of individual brilliance from Kennedy.

Kennedy showed great awareness to flick Ben Parker's hopeful up-field punt inside his marker with his first touch and, with his second, stroked the ball effortlessly over Lee from the top-left corner of the area.

Four minutes later, White planted a firm header wide and rising to meet Parker's corner as Dale struggled to regain their composure after going behind to Kennedy's third goal of the season.

Dagnall blazed wide from an acute angle nine minutes after the restart, while Tommy Wright's diving header at the other end from another corner cleared the crossbar from close range. With 20 minutes remaining, Dagnall got the goal his industry and invention deserved, albeit via a deflection which gave Stockdale no chance. The Dale forward fired a low drive goalwards from 20 yards which rebounded through a crowd of players and past Stockdale to send the massed travelling support behind the goal into raptures.

Dale boss Keith Hill introduced top scorer Adam Le Fondre late on in the hope of mustering a winner.

But it was the hosts who regained the lead in stoppage time as Wainwright's inch-perfect left-wing free-kick allowed Miller to head home and complete a grandstand finish.