Swansea City 4 Rotherham United 3
McBurnie 36, 79 Ihiekwe 10
McKay 50 Crooks 38
Byers 69 Vaulks 83
Rotherham United twice took the lead at the Liberty Stadium yesterday afternoon but ended up on wrong end of a four-three scoreline.
The Millers started well having an early corner and one of Will Vaulks’ infamous long throws before Clark Robertson down the other end cut out the danger from Jay Fulton. Some clever work from Swans winger Daniel James saw the hosts get a corner which swung in to the far post towards Fulton but this time Joe Mattock was on hand to clear with the resulting corner coming to Oli McBurnie who didn’t get his header right at all. Ten minutes into the game and another long throw from skipper Vaulks was cleared but only as far as Mattock who headed back to Vaulks who in turn hit the ball towards goal finding Michael Ihiekwe’s head as it went into the back of the net to give the visitors the lead. Just after the quarter of an hour mark Ajayi, who had seen yellow minutes earlier for a challenge on McBurnie, took advantage of some poor play by the hosts taking the ball and sending it to the lively Matt Crooks who in turn found Jon Taylor whose shot was well saved by City ‘keeper Kristoffer Nordfeldt. At the other end there was a couple of simple saves for Marek Rodak before a superb cross from Wayne Routledge found Connor Roberts but the Millers defence stood firm and the resulting corner saw Mike van der Hoorn climb the highest with his header going just past the post. Minutes later Robertson did well to make sure a Matt Grimes’ free-kick came to nothing with Mattock having to put a cross-cum-shot from Routledge behind for a corner. Grimes took the corner finding the head of McBurnie who put the ball into the back of net for the equaliser. Just two minutes later the Millers went in front again when another long throw from Vaulks found Michael Smith who flicked the ball into the area which initially went behind Crooks but the big man turned and swivelled and struck the ball sweetly enough to see it go into the back of the net. At the other end McBurnie saw a shot go just past the post before a long range shot from the same player was an easy catch for Rodak.
Swansea brought on George Byers for Jay Fulton to start the second half. I don’t know what the Millers half-time team talk was but I’m sure it didn’t include City getting themselves level for a second time with five minutes of the half gone. Some good play from Daniel James down the wing saw him get the ball into the area for Barrie McKay who put his header into the net for the equaliser. At the other end some nice work between Anthony Forde and Michael Smith found Zak Vyner whose cross into the box was cleared by Matt Grimes. The Millers first substitution of the afternoon saw Richie Towell on for Semi Ajayi, which was probably because the City players were trying to get the tall Nigerian a second yellow. Minutes later with Vyner on the floor injured James found himself free at the back post with only an acrobatic save from Marek Rodak keeping the ball out of the net. The hosts had another couple of half shots before they went in front for the first time in the game on sixty-nine minutes when a shot from Byers went through a host of players but seeming to find the hand of Kyle Naughton before it went into the net. The Millers players were furious, the bench were furious, the Millers fans at the other end were wondering what was happening and looking at the big screen. In the aftermath referee Keith Stroud booked Rotherham’s Assistant Manager Richie Barker and the replay of the goal was never shown on the big screen – not once. Vyner did well minutes later to stop a break from the hosts before some nice work from Michael Smith got the ball to the head of Crooks only for Kristoffer Nordfeldt to pull off a fantastic save to deny him. Swansea brought on Joe Rodon for Barrie McKay before both Smith and Will Vaulks saw headers go wide and Rodak brought off a fantastic save from James, who had far too much room. With ten minutes to go the Swans made it four-two when Oli McBurnie got past his marker and into the box to let fly with a curling shot that gave Rodak no chance as it settled in the back of the net. Ryan Williams and Ben Wiles came on for Jon Taylor and Matt Crooks with Wiles getting straight into the game with a lovely cross for Forde who had too many players to beat in the area. With seven minutes left a thunderous shot from Vaulks hit the underside of the crossbar and went into the net to make it game on again. And it was all the Millers with a Forde free-kick being turned behind for a corner and another set-piece aimed towards Smith also put behind. Courtney Baker-Richardson replaced Wayne Routledge for the hosts minutes before Nordfeldt was called into action with another great save this time from Smith. In eight minutes of time added on Vaulks saw a scuffed shot turned round the post by the Swansea ‘keeper with Forde’s corner being tipped over while a cross from Mattock minutes later was dealt with before it reached Forde.
The final whistle went and the Millers players all fell to the ground. It had been a tough day in Wales. Their fans had urged them on for around one hundred minutes and now had to endure a long journey home with nothing – when, we really should have got something from this game.
Referee – Keith Stroud
Crowd – 18,527
