Rotherham United 3 Burton Albion 2
Smith (9, 46) Murphy (7)
Ladapo (71) Sarkic (47)
Rotherham United were on the better end of a three-two score line this afternoon at the New York Stadium which sees them keep top spot in League One.
Starting the better the first chance came for the home side in the opening minute when a lovely ball in from Hakeeb Adelakun found Kyle Vassell who controlled well but saw his shot go wide. Burton’s first foray up field nearly resulted in a goal after former Millers’ loanee Stephen Quinn got the better of the Rotherham midfielders and went forward with the ball seeing his effort turned behind by skipper Richard Wood for a corner. And it was from that corner that the first goal of the game came. Taken by Oliver Sarkic the ball found Jamie Murphy who curled the ball into the net to give the visitors the lead. Two minutes later Rotherham were level after some good work from Matt Crooks found Michael Smith who slammed the ball into the back of the net for the equaliser. The impressive Quinn might have restored the lead for the visitors but for a good save from Daniel Iversen and the Millers’ ‘keeper was in the thick of things again when Murphy found himself alone at the near post but Iversen managed to push his shot onto the post before it went out for a corner. After flying down the wing a lovely ball in from Chieo Ogbene was just inches away from the on-coming Vassell. At the other end again an unmarked Quinn had the time to trap the ball look up and shoot from the edge of the box bringing off a brilliant save from Iversen before Ogbene had a chance which was pushed away by Albion ‘keeper Kieran O’Hara finding Crooks who saw his header go just over the crossbar. The first yellow of the afternoon went to visiting midfielder Oliver Sarkic. With five minutes of the half to go a bizarre decision by referee James Adcock (who was a late replacement) had the Millers up in arms. A definite back-pass from Ryan Edwards saw O’Hara under pressure from Vassell and had to stop the own goal by catching which Mr Adcock appeared to agree with and pointed for a free-kick on the edge of the area. A minute later he changed his mind and gave a corner – how you can give a corner when the ball hadn’t gone out of play is a puzzle. A Dan Barlaser corner in time added on found Joe Mattock but his header was way over the crossbar bothering nobody.
Rotherham had a dream start to the second half when Chieo Ogbene forced a corner which was taken by Dan Barlaser and with Michael Smith climbing highest he headed home to give the hosts the lead. But the jubilation from the eight thousand fans was short lived as a minute later Burton were level after some good work between Lucas Akins and Stephen Quinn saw the former slide the ball to Oliver Sarkic who ran into the box and smashed the ball into the back of the net. The first substitution of the afternoon came on the hour mark when Hakeeb Adelakun made way for Ben Wiles. A minute later the visitors really should have gone in front after Sarkic found John Brayford who found Akins in space but the forward put it wide from just five yards out. The Millers brought on Freddie Ladapo in place of Kyle Vassell who nearly made a third for the hosts setting up Matt Crooks who saw his shot go just inches wide. At the other end a flying save from Daniel Iversen kept out a shot from close range from Conor Shaughnessy. Less than five minutes after coming on Ladapo made it three-two after Ogbene had done well to get away from his marker and send in a cross finding Wiles who in turn found the Millers top striker who smashed it into the bottom corner of the net. Matt Olosunde was the final sub for the Rotherham replacing Dan Barlaser. A Wiles corner found Crooks in the box whose header was scrambled off the line finding Smith at the back post who put the ball just wide which probably should have been his hat-trick goal. Burton made their first substitutions fetching on Scott Fraser for Oliver Sarkic and a few minutes later Joe Powell for Ryan Edwards. Ogbene dashed down the wing and sent a perfect ball into Olosunde before Olosunde had another chance after Smith swung a ball in but the American couldn’t get his header past O’Hara. Burton played their final card on eighty-eight minutes fetching on Reece Hutchinson for Colin Daniel. Ladapo was yellow carded for a foul on the Burton ‘keeper which was about the last action of the game.
At times I thought the Millers were hanging on a bit today and I thought Burton were one of the better sides I’ve seen at the New York Stadium this season – they found a way to stop us in the first half without having to resort to falling down and screaming at the referee – quite refreshing. In the end the Millers probably deserved the three points but, me, for one, wouldn’t have been complaining too much if it had been a point apiece.
So three points. Still Top of the League. Things are looking good!
Crowd – 8,563
Referee – James Adcock – who again had us shaking our heads at some of his decisions. For seventy-five minutes he was giving free-kicks over niggley things and then suddenly stopped giving fouls at all for either side. Strange.
