Tigers Come From One Down To Beat Millers

Rotherham United 1 Hull City 2
Tiehi (4)                            Humphreys (og 71), Ohio (75


Rotherham United took an early lead at the New York Stadium this evening but couldn’t hold on with Hull City scoring twice in four second half minutes to take the three points.

The game was just four minutes old when a cross from Seb Revan landed at his feet for him to take aim and fire towards goal the ball taking a slight deflection as it flew into the net. And four minutes later it might have been two after Peter Kioso got above former Millers loanee Ryan Giles to head a cross from Sam Clucas towards the net fetching off a save from City ‘keeper Ryan Allsop with the resulting corner put into the box by Clucas with City again thankful to Allsop who punched clear. At the other end Cameron Humphreys did well to clear a cross from Lewie Coyle with Ollie Rathbone picking up the ball and finding Sam Nombe who tried his luck from distance fetching off a save from Allsop. A nice cross in from Regan Slater found Billy Sharp in front of goal whose header brought off a fine save from Millers’ ‘keeper Viktor Johansson before drama at the other end saw Charlie Wyke, making his debut for the hosts, send a super ball for Kioso who was tripped by Giles in the area but no amount of pleading from players or Millers fans would persuade Leigh Doughty to give a penalty. A misunderstanding in the box by the City defence gave the Millers a corner which saw Rathbone put it into the middle and Allsop punch away only as far as Revan who sent the ball for Humphreys to put into the box but his cross was just too long for a Rotherham player to get on the end of. Revan did well to send a cross in from Jaden Philogene behind for a corner before Revan again stopped a move from the attacking-midfielder reaching a black and yellow shirt in the box. A free-kick from Giles found the head of Jacob Greaves with only the right-hand of Johansson there to send it away from goal which was followed by a curling shot from Fabio Carvalho going just wide. Clucas and Revan worked well to get the ball to Wyke who put his header into the waiting arms of Allsop before a one-two between Rathbone and Wyke saw the latter have a shot which against Allsop was equal too. Philogene looked to be in a good position minutes later but an offside flag stopped him in his tracks and after kicking the ball away he received the first yellow of the game. Lee Peltier had to be on his toes when Anass Zaroury got free of his marker and waltzed into the area to send the ball for Sharp, the Millers number twenty-one getting there first to clear. Rathbone did well to take the ball off Philogene before finding Hakeem Odoffin who in turn sent the ball for Tiehi who saw his cross too long for Kioso to collect. Zaroury sent a good ball towards the far post for Greaves who saw Johansson palm away a first effort before getting the ball back and sending it into the side netting. And it was the Millers’ number one minutes later who got down well to a low shot to stop Zaroury equalising. A long pass down the wing from Clucas saw Nombe and Greaves both go for it with the City defender appearing to bring the Millers striker down but the referee gave the free-kick the other way. As the board went up for a further two minutes Peltier had to be on his toes to make a goal-line clearance from a Philogene over-head kick before the Rotherham defender made a double save first heading away a cross from Coyle before making himself big and stopping Zaroury’s shot go into the net meaning the Millers fans were happy to be going in at half-time in front, something which hasn’t happened very often this season.

City came out the better in the second half with Viktor Johansson standing tall against shots from Regan Slater and Fabio Carvalho before a Anass Zaroury free-kick went into the side netting. Some good work from Peter Kioso saw him send the ball high for Sam Nombe who headed wide before a low shot from distance from Ollie Rathbone brought off a good stop from Ryan Allsop and a deflected cross from Nombe found Kioso who couldn’t get the ball into the net. At the other end Jaden Philogene found himself in space but some great work from Sam Clucas stopped him in his tracks. Revan won the Millers a corner which was taken short by Clucas to Rathbone who sent the ball into a crowded box it being cleared as far as Kioso whose shot was saved by Allsop. After receiving treatment on the pitch Lee Peltier was replaced on the sixty-sixth minute by Sean Morrison which was followed by a double change for the visitors with Anass Zaroury and Regan Slater making way for Noah Ohio and Ozan Tufan. Christ Tiehi saw yellow for taking his time over a free-kick before a quick break from Revan saw him cross to Nombe just inside the box who saw his shot go just wide of the upright. Straight down the other end and Ryan Giles found himself with room to shoot only to see the ball hit the underside of the crossbar and go to safety. But the relief was short lived when Rathbone turned backwards instead of going forward and ended up losing the ball to Philogene who sent a super ball in which hit Cameron Humphreys as it flew into the net to equalise for the visitors. Christ Tiehi had to be replaced by Andy Rinomhota, making his Millers debut, with Tom Eaves coming on for Charlie Wyke. Minutes after equalising City took the lead after more good work from Giles sent in a low cross for Ohio to get on the end of and send the ball into the far corner of the net. With ten minutes to go Rotherham brought on Cafu and Arvin Appiah for Ollie Rathbone, who had been down with cramp, and Cameron Humphreys. City then made two changes with Greg Doherty and Matty Jacobs coming on for Billy Sharp and Fabio Carvalho. Appiah had a chance sending a cross into the box which Allsop easily collected before Nombe looked like to have been impeded in the box but the referee waved away any protest. A trip on Philogene brought a yellow card for Revan as the board went up for nine further minutes. A corner for the hosts saw Cafu send it straight into the arms of the waiting Allsop before Appiah saw a shot go over the crossbar. A counter by substitute Tufan saw him send Docherty a super ball into the box with Johansson keeping the shot out.

With some great defending, mostly from our Viking in goal, the Millers looked to be on for their first win since Boxing Day but Hull not only breached the Rotherham defence once but twice to take all three points back with them to East Yorkshire.

One good thing about the game today was we went forward – surely, when you need goals that is the only way to go? When we started putting the ball backwards we got ourselves into all sorts of trouble and gave away a goal.

We have to pick ourselves up and go again on Saturday when Watford are in town.

Attendance – 10,668 with 2,166 Tigers in the stands

Referee – Leigh Doughty