Rotherham United’s win over Bristol Rovers yesterday sees the Millers cement a place in the top six meaning they will be in the League One Play-Offs at the end of the season.
As Millers Boss Paul Warne said in his interview yesterday there were quite a few people expecting Rotherham, a team who had been relegated so early from the Championship last season, to at best finish in mid-table, at worst go down another level.
So this is a great achievement for the Millers and especially for Warney who reluctantly took over the reigns when everyone else proved the job was too much for them, who grew into the job despite the relegation and who has got this team into as good a place as could be expected to try and get back into the Championship at the first time of asking.
Will we do that? I don’t know. If we don’t then we can still look back on a very, very good season with more to come.
The game yesterday wasn’t the best I’ve seen the Millers play, after two away trips, one in mid-week to Gillingham and back, where they secured four points for the cause, they looked tired. A fantastic strike from Michael Smith got us on the front foot with a goal from substitute Caolan Lavery putting the game to bed when Bristol Rovers looked like they could get something from the game. I have to mention the defending in the last three games which have produced three clean sheets – it’s been excellent. When one player has made a mistake there’s been another behind him to clear it up – that’s what team work is all about.
A word about skipper Richard Wood who is going to look like the invisible man if he keeps getting battered and bruised, thumped and elbowed in his face like he has been doing. Yet, only once did he go down and he got up and carried on – an old pro, a proper pro. (Although if he ever gets into the Premier League then he’s going to have to learn how to roll about the floor and kick up a fuss!).
And can I mention referees? Because the one yesterday didn’t know his proverbial from his elbow. He gave a free-kick on the half-way line for an incident which was exactly the same as he’d failed to give a penalty for minutes earlier. The linesman had to make an important decision more than once for him when he’d ‘not seen it’. And more times than not we, sat in the stands, were nearer the ball than him.
The Millers make the long trek to Plymouth next weekend – a team who are also hoping to make it into the play-offs. Be nice to fetch something back from Devon.
New York Stadium
League One
21/04/2018 12:13 am
Attendance: 8579
Referee: Andy Haines
| Rotherham United | Bristol Rovers | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Smith (9), Lavery (90) | |||||||
| Rodak | Slocombe | ||||||
| Emmanuel | J Clarke | ||||||
| Purrington | Bola | ||||||
| Vaulks | Craig | ||||||
| Ihiekwe | Lockyer | ||||||
| Wood | O Clarke | ||||||
| Palmer (Ajayi) | Bennett | ||||||
| Towell (Lavery) | Lines | ||||||
| Taylor (Williams) | Moore (Mensah) | ||||||
| Newell | Nichols (Telford) | ||||||
| Smith | Harrison (Gaffney) | ||||||
Substitutes |
|||||||
| Price | Smith | ||||||
| Ajayi | Broadbent | ||||||
| Cummings | Brown | ||||||
| Forde | Russe | ||||||
| Williams | Gaffney | ||||||
| Ball | Mensah | ||||||
| Lavery | Telford | ||||||
Game Statistics |
||
| 12 | Goal attempts | 12 |
| 3 | On Target | 4 |
| 3 | Corners | 4 |
| 14 | Fouls | 11 |
| 0 | Yellow Cards | 1 |
| 0 | Red Cards | 0 |
| 45 | % | 55 |