By Bruce Archer

A record crowd at Griffin Park were left heartbroken after injury time drama robbed Brentford of automatic promotion to the Championship.

Brentford, who edged the game but had been unable to break through the resilient Doncaster Rovers defence, were awarded a penalty in the final of five added minutes.

However, Marcello Trotta thundered the ball against the bar, and Billy Paynter took advantage of the break to feed James Coppinger at the back post.

Coppinger put the ball in the back of the net to steal a 1-0 win, enter the Championship and break the hearts of Brentford.

The Bees now take on Swindon Town in the play offs with the first leg May 4, and the return fixture at Griffin Park on May 6.

Meanwhile, Rovers overtook Bournemouth, who could only draw with Tranmere, to win the title.

Bees’ boss Uwe Rosler said: “It left me speechless. I think it’s difficult to have clear answers about what will happen now. “I need to pick myself up tomorrow and my players and staff will be ready for next week.”

Brentford were the brighter side throughout, and were particularly threatening down the left side with Jake Bidwell and Harry Forrester linking up well, but Doncaster’s central defenders dealt with everything they threw into the box.

Bradley Wright-Phillips hit the post in the first half and had another effort saved by Neil Sullivan, 43, from the edge of the box.

But they were restricted to long-range efforts in the second half and Jonathon Douglas cleared the stand as he skied one from the edge of the box, just after the hour.

The penalty, awarded after a scramble in the box that saw Toumani Diagouraga knocked to the ground, presented Trotta with the opportunity to win promotion to the second tier of English football for the first time since 1993.

However, the cross bar had other ideas and most of the crowd of 12,400 – a 20-year record – had their hearts broken.