The League One Millers were trailing 2-0 to Oldham Athletic at half-time in the Northern Group E clash at AESSEAL New York Stadium.
They responded by sending on three subs – Joe Rafferty, Reece James and Jordan Hugill – for the second period and turning the contest on its head.
Rafferty and James were among the scorers as Matt Hamshaw’s men finished 3-2 victors and gave themselves a great chance of reaching the knockout stage of the tournament.
Number two Tonge said: “They made a real difference, that’s what you want from your substitutes.
“Raffer’s first opportunity, he puts the ball down the line in behind, we get a throw-in from it and that just sets the tone for the second half.
“We’re really pleased with those three because they had a big influence on the game.”
Summer signing Kian Spence’s first goal for the club – a spectacular 20-yarder – set the wheels in motion following Oldham goals from Luke Hannant and Reagan Ogle, before Rafferty and James struck in the 87th minute and in stoppage time respectively.
Victory over Manchester City Under-21s later this month would see Rotherham progress from their group.
Following on from the league draw with then-leaders Bradford City last Thursday, this evening’s triumph has put the 22nd-placed Millers in good spirits as they build up to Saturday’s third-tier trip to mid-table Northampton Town.
“Absolutely tonight is a boost,” Tonge said. “We’ve just spoken about it in the dressing room in terms of bottling that up and what a win looks like.
“It’s not always pretty, it’s not always what you want, it’s not always things that you work on in training. However, you take that and you move into the next game and that, hopefully, is where that momentum starts building.”
Rotherham had handed first senior starts to youngsters Hamish Douglas and Kane Richardson but both players found it hard going and were among the players replaced at the break.
“It’s not just those two in particular,” Tonge said. “I think that, as a team, we were really poor in the first half, and that was really disappointing.
“Hamish has come back from a long-term injury (hamstring), so it was good to see him getting minutes under his belt. Kane is out on loan (at non-league Brighouse Town) at the minute and he’s doing really well there. It was good to give him an opportunity.
“The gaffer just felt at half-time that we needed experience – that mindset of what it needed to look like to turn it around.”
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