Rotherham United 2 Millwall 1
Revan (71) Longman (78)
Wyke (86)
Most Rotherham United fans would have gone to the game today expecting to be made April Fools of but two players scoring their first goals in a Millers shirt saw them collect three home points.
The opening minutes saw a couple of free-kicks for the hosts before a cross from Cohen Bramall found Tom Eaves who saw his shot blocked for a corner which Sam Clucas took which was cleared to Duncan Watmore but a sliding tackle from Andy Rinomhota stopped him from progressing up field. Ollie Rathbone got the ball a few minutes later and did well to hold onto it before sending it for Eaves but Japhet Tanganga got there first. A ball went towards Casper de Norre who was too slow off the mark allowing Rathbone to pinch it and send it for Sam Nombe who sent a lovely ball in the box but it was too long for Eaves to collect. A foul by Hakeem Odoffin saw the George Honeyman free-kick go out for a throw-in which found George Saville whose shot from the edge of the box went sailing over the crossbar. At the other end Femi Seriki found Eaves lurking at the far post the striker heading the ball across goal but it was an easy catch for Millwall ‘keeper Matija Sarkic. An injury to Murray Wallace saw an early change for the visitors with Dan McNamara replacing him on twenty-three minutes. Just after the half-hour mark a shot from Ryan Leonard brought a first save for Viktor Johansson in the Rotherham goal and minutes later the Swede was in action again when he dived to get his hand to a curling shot from Jake Cooper the resulting corner headed wide by Cooper. Watmore got the ball outside the box and sent it in with Seb Revan there to divert it behind with Saville finding Honeyman with the corner who in turn found the head of Tanganga who headed over.
The opening minutes of the second half saw Duncan Watmore get the better of Hakeem Odoffin but the Millers defender did well to get back and stop the Millwall player getting anywhere with the ball. At the other end Tom Eaves and Jake Cooper were in a wrestling match to get to a Cohen Bramall cross into the box, Cooper winning the fight. A Millwall corner saw Zian Flemming get to the ball and only some good work from Viktor Johansson stopped him scoring as he finger-tipped it over the bar. From the resulting corner the ball came in with Tom Eaves there to head it off the line which was followed by more good work from the visitors which saw Dan McNamara get space to cut inside before shooting only to see Odoffin there to clear. The George Honeyman corner found the head of Flemming who put the ball wide before a low cross from McNamara a minute later was cleared by Seb Revan. On the hour mark Ollie Rathbone did well in the middle of the park to pick up the ball and send it for Sam Nombe who saw his shot well saved by Matija Sarkic before Watmore had a shot at the other end which went wide. Two changes for the Millers saw Ollie Rathbone and Femi Seriki replaced by Cafu and Shane Ferguson. Some nice work from Andy Rinomhota saw him get the better of his marker and send a lovely ball through for Nombe but some good work from Japhet Tanganga stopped the ball finding Tom Eaves who had got into a good position. Another corner for the visitors saw Tanganga get his head to it but Johansson was there to stop it going in the net. The Millers won a corner of their own minutes later which Cafu took finding Odoffin’s head who put the ball inches over the crossbar. But with nineteen minutes on the clock Rotherham took the lead after Nombe won possession and played the ball back to Revan who looked up and saw the ‘keeper just off his line and sent a cracking ball in from outside the box and saw it fly into the far corner of the net for his first senior goal. Three minutes later Millwall made three changes fetching on Adam Mayor, Ryan Longman and former Millers loanee Brooke Norton-Cuffy for George Honeyman, Duncan Watmore and Ryan Leonard. A foul on Flemming brought the first yellow of the game for Sam Clucas before Johansson brought off another incredible save, this time just a few feet from goal, from Michael Obafemi. Another foul on Flemming saw a yellow card for Rinomhota before another two changes for the Millers saw Sam Clucas and Sam Nombe make way for Jamie Lindsay and Charlie Wyke. With seventy-eight minutes on the clock the Lions got the equaliser after both Obafemi and Saville were given chances by some poor defending from the Millers to get the ball in it was put out for a corner which Norton-Cuffy took and in the melee in the box it found Longmore who sent the ball into the back of the net from close range. Another two changes for the Millers saw Sam Clucas and Sam Nombe make way for Jamie Lindsay and Charlie Wyke. With four minutes to go Revan went down the wing sending the ball into the box for Wyke who looked to be going down when the ball appeared to hit the back of his head and go into the net – did he actually ‘glance’ the ball in? I’m not sure but it doesn’t matter because it made it two-one to the Millers! In the six minutes of time added on another change for the Millers saw Lee Peltier come on for Cohen Bramall and it was backs to the wall for the Millers with a few corners for the away side being hacked away and Flemming and McNamara missing headers from close range. But they couldn’t get an equaliser and it was a very rare win for the Millers.
It wasn’t the prettiest of games with both teams as bad as the other for much of it. But three points for the Millers, their first goals in six games, their first win since Boxing Day and a sea of happy fans leaving the ground as well as putting off the ‘R’ next to our name in the table for at least five days.
But, in real life, it’s really all over – isn’t it? I mean, could we? Might we? Well, you never know with these Millers!
Attendance – 9,803 with 919 Lions in the ground
Referee – Alex Chilowicz
Share this article
Related Articles
