Alfie saves point for Millers

Rotherham United dropped their first two points of the season at Don Valley this afternoon to a Barnet side that twice went into the lead.

The first attempt on goal fell to the Millers when Lewis Grabban worked himself into space and laid on the ball to Gareth Evans whose shot from twenty yards out went wide of the goal. Five minutes later Dale Tonge slipped and handed the ball to Izale McLeod and with the striker running in on goal, his shot hit the back of Troy Brown and went to safety. A minute later McLeod turned provider when he crossed the ball to Mark Marshall, who looked certain to score, but blazed over from five yards out. With the game becoming scrappy, the next chance for the Millers came on twenty-five minutes when Mark Bradley tried his luck from twenty-five yards out but Dean Brill, in the Bees net, held on. On thirty-six minutes the visitors got a corner which Marshall took and found Clovis Kamdjo and the Cameroonian nodded the ball into the back of the net. Two minutes later Danny Schofield put in a cross that went just behind Lewis Grabban.

The half-time was taken up today with those who are still with us from the first ever League Cup Final side of 1961 being introduced to the crowd – and it was good to see so many of them there.

The Millers were first out of the blocks in the second half and within three minutes of the start were level. A Schofield corner found Troy Brown in the box and Brown rose to meet the cross but only managed to hit the ball against a Barnet defender. But, the ball dropped kindly for Brown and he volleyed it into the back of the net for his first Millers goal. On the hour mark, Michael Raynes was adjudged to have fouled McLeod in the area and the striker picked himself up and left Logan no chance as he smashed the ball into the roof of the net. He could have had another a few minutes later when he got clear and rounded Logan only to see his shot well blocked on the line by Brown. The Millers had a penalty claim turned down by referee David Coote before a Millers corner wasn`t cleared by Barnet and fell to Bradley whose shot rattled the crossbar and came out to safety. Marcus Marshall, on for Tonge at half-time, saw a shot go over the bar and Adam Le Fondre had a shot that went wide. With nine minutes to go Le Fondre rescued a point for the Millers when he got on a forward pass from Danny Harrison (probably his only forward ball of the whole afternoon) and fired home through the legs of Brill. Le Fondre maybe should have got the winner a few minutes later when he headed a Schofield cross over the bar.

Well, I`m not sure what happened today, especially in the first half, but we only looked half the team we`ve looked for the last couple of games today. Some of the passing was poor and, for some reason unknown to anyone, we started to play the long ball – which was never on. But, we fought and got a point and so we`ve still not been beaten in the league this season.