March saw Rotherham United starting the month in twentieth place in the Championship and just six points off the bottom place.
It all started well for the Millers when Queens Park Rangers were in town with former Hoops player Jordan Hugill, who was wearing the captains armband in place of the injured Ollie Rathbone, got on the end of a Chieo Ogbene pass to sweep the ball into the net giving the hosts a fifteen minute lead. And he made it two in the second half after being brought down and taking the spot-kick himself. Rangers themselves got a penalty on the eighty-third minute after Wes Harding was adjudged to have brought down Sinclair Armstrong with Jamal Lowe halving the deficit with his spot-kick. But when a shot from Georgie Kelly was only blocked as far as Hakeem Odoffin there was only one place the ball was going to end up and that was in the net to give Rotherham a three-one victory. After the win Millers Manager Matt Taylor said it had been ‘one hell of a battle’ but was obviously happy with the result.
With the Millers seeming to have more injuries that we had players defender Tyler Blackett was brought in on a deal until the end of the season.
The next game saw Rotherham on the road going to take on Birmingham City at St Andrews where a poor first half performance saw them two down by the thirty-fifth minute. A better second half saw the Millers keep City out but as they couldn’t score themselves the game ended as a two-nil defeat.
A cold and snowy Tuesday evening saw Preston North End at the New York Stadium and also saw a goal from close-range from Tom Cannon put them in front on twenty-three minutes. The Millers scored a deserved equaliser twelve minutes later with Hakeem Odoffin getting on the score sheet but a goal in time added on in the first half from Ched Evans gave Preston all three points. Millers Boss Matt Taylor was frustrated after the game.
Cardiff City were the visitors for our last game in March ahead of the International break and, it’s fair to say, things didn’t go as expected. It had been billed as a six-point relegation battle and City were in front on just five minutes after the Millers defence seemed to have gone awol and Jaden Philogene put the ball into the bottom corner of the net. A couple of shots from Rotherham went astray before Perry Ng’s free-kick hit the crossbar and went out to safety. And then it was half-time and it began to rain, rain like I’d never seen before. As fast as it was being pushed off the pitch it was coming on elsewhere. The lines disappeared until the deluge as did the penalty spot. But Referee Oliver Langford started the second half although nobody in the ground, including the players, could see more than a few inches in front of them. Mr Langford then took the players off and after forty-seven minutes declared the game abandoned much to the disgust of Cardiff as they were in front although I have no idea how they thought they could actually play the game. The fans I fully understand their frustration, having travelled all those miles. There was talk about starting the game where it ended with City in front, but, let’s be honest, that was never going to happen.
The up and coming International games saw Rotherham have Conor Washington and Shane Ferguson called up for Northern Ireland for UEFA Euro 2024 games and although not playing for the Millers since Good Friday Bailey Wright got a call-up for the Australian National team for a ‘Welcome Home’ series against Ecuador. Goalkeeper Viktor Johansson got his first call up for the Swedish first team for their UEFA Euro 2024 games while Chieo Ogbene also got a call for the same games for the Republic of Ireland. Also called up for his U21 side, Norway, was loanee Leo Hjelde. All played some part for respective clubs except Viktor who was on the bench.
During the break news came from the club that our U16’s Goalkeeper, George Hardy, had joined Wolverhampton Wanderers for an undisclosed fee.
Vital Rotherham’s Man of the Month for March went to Jordan Hugill.
The Millers ended March still in twentieth game with forty points, one more than Cardiff City and two less than Queens Park Rangers with a game in hand of the London side.
