Ten Men Millers Lose At The Den

Millwall 1 Rotherham United 0
J Wallace

Rotherham lost their first away game in three this afternoon at the Den when a second half goal was enough to beat the ten men from South Yorkshire.

The hosts came out the better for the opening minutes winning a couple of corners which came to nothing before the Millers had the first chance of the game when Freddie Ladapo got the ball in a good position only to see his shot go inches wide of the post. Next to have a go was Ryan Giles who got the better of Shaun Hutchinson but his shot was straight at the Lions’ ‘keeper Bartosz Bailkowski. Rotherham had a shout for a penalty just past the twenty minutes mark with Ladapo getting in the middle of two Millwall defenders before ending on the floor but referee John Brooks was having none of it. At the other end Richard Wood foiled some good work between Scott Malone and Jed Wallace. A good cross in from Ladapo was going towards the head of Michael Smith but Jake Cooper was aware which was followed by an injury to Millwall captain Shaun Hutchinson who was replaced by Alex Pearce. Millers’ ‘keeper Viktor Johansson did well to punch away a corner from Wallace before Angus MacDonald won a free-kick for the visitors. Dan Barlaser sent a perfect ball into the area finding the head of Michael Ihiekwe who brought off a great save from Bailkowski. A good block up the other end from Angus MacDonald stopped Wallace in his tracks after he’d collected a ball from Malone before a Wallace corner was sent wide by Mason Bennett leaving it goalless at half-time.

In the opening minutes of the second half a loose ball in the area was collected by Billy Mitchell only to see his shot hit a team mate and go to safety before Scott Malone sent a shot high and wide. On fifty-five minutes the Millers went down to ten men when Rotherham skipper Richard Wood saw red for fetching down Jed Wallace just outside the box when he looked to be running through on goal. The following free-kick went straight into the Rotherham wall with the rebound falling to Danny McNamara whose shot brought off a good save from Viktor Johansson. The Millers made two changes fetching on Ben Wiles and Jamie Lindsay for Ryan Giles and Freddie Ladapo. Matt Crooks got the ball and ran down the pitch finding Smith who in turn sent Wiles on his way with the Rawmarsh born player winning a free-kick which came to nothing. A Bennett shot was blocked before Angus MacDonald put it out for a corner which found Malone who sent the ball in to Wallace whose shot found the top corner to give the hosts the lead. Minutes later a McNamara cross found Malone who put the ball wide before Wiles set Lewis Wing up for a shot from distance but the Middlesbrough loanee put the ball wide. A triple change for Millwall saw Kenneth Zohore, Connor Mahoney and Jon Dadi Bodvarsson replace Mason Bennett, Billy Mitchell and Jed Wallace. Barlaser sent a ball in which Michael Ihiekwe touched towards goal but only found Bialkowski before a cross from Smith flashed across goal just inches away from Ihiekwe. A poor challenge on Lindsay saw the first yellow of the game go to the Lions’ Jake Cooper which was followed by the Millers fetching on Florian Jozefzoon, Trevor Clarke and George Hirst on for Daniel Barlaser, Lewis Wing and Matt Crooks. With six minutes to go the visitors had the perfect opportunity to level the scores when Alex Pearce fouled Smith in the area. Smith took the resulting penalty but Bialkowski guessed right and saved well. A corner found Wiles who sent the ball in towards Angus MacDonald but the angle was difficult and the Rotherham player put the ball just wide. And it was MacDonald again who had a chance minutes later, this time aided by a Jozefzoon cross, but again his shot was just wide. Millwall replaced Ryan Woods with  Maikel Kieftenbeld. In time added on the hard working MacDonald saw yellow for pulling back Zohore with Millwall seeing the game out by taking the ball into first one corner then the other.

The result wasn’t the best for the Millers this afternoon but I don’t think we played at all badly especially when we went down to ten men so early in the second half – and I do think it was a red and that Wallace would probably have scored if Wood hadn’t stopped him. But, when you get a chance like we did with the penalty we really, really should be taking them.

On to Monday when fellow struggler’s Wycombe are the visitors to the New York Stadium – so not too many Easter Eggs, eh, lads.