Aldershot Town 1 Rotherham United 2
Clark (65) Ladapo (64)
Wiles (90+1)
Rotherham United substitute Ben Wiles became the toast of the town this afternoon when his goal in time added on at the Wham Stadium kept the Millers in the top spot in League One.
The first half was a pretty dismal affair with Rotherham not able to get to grips with the very windy conditions with the hosts, with the wind blowing for them, having the first shot on goal on six minutes with Rotherham skipper blocking a long shot from Joe Pritchard. A good cross in from Dan Barlaser, after some good work from Matthew Olosunde, brought back into the starting eleven today, found Matt Crooks running in but his header was weak with Jordan Clark, at the other end, firing over from a tight angle. On eighteen minutes Hakeeb Adelakun tried a shot from distance that troubled no-one and five minutes later he did well again and won the visitors a corner which came to nothing. Accrington came close on twenty-five minutes when Dion Charles lost his marker then got the better of Millers’ ‘keeper Daniel Iversen and when it looked like he would put the ball into the net along came Olosunde with a superb tackle to stop him. And it was Charles again a few minutes later who got a lovely ball from Clark only to sky the ball over the net and into the Rotherham fans behind the goal before Iversen kept the Millers in the game with a flying save from Ajibola Alese with the rest of the half dominated by fouls, free-kicks and the poor conditions.
The Millers came out better in the second half and Michael Smith did well to get the better of Mark Hughes and send a ball across goal towards Hakeeb Adelakun but the number fourteen couldn’t quite get on the end of it. Some good work from Chieo Ogbene saw him win a corner for the visitors which Dan Barlaser took and found the head of Smith before the ball went out for another corner which came to nothing. The first yellow card of the afternoon went to Barlaser for a foul on Dion Charles. Ogbene did well again to shake off his marker and crossed to Barlaser who shot at goal with Accrington ‘keeper Josef Bursik getting fingertips to it. The first change of the afternoon saw Freddie Ladapo on for the visitors replacing Hakeeb Adelakun. Jordan Clark had a chance for the hosts but saw his shot go high and wide before Matthew Olosunde found Smith who put the ball wide. A corner for Rotherham found the head of Michael Ihiekwe who in turn found Richard Wood whose shot from close range missed. But less than a minute later the Millers were in front when a Barlaser corner found Ihiekwe again and this time he put the ball back in the area for Ladapo who forced the ball over the line with a host of players round him sending the travelling one and a half thousand Millers wild. But their chants of ‘we are Rotherham United, we’re top of the league’ were short lived because a minute later Accrington were level after Sam Finley flew down the wing and with the Rotherham defence sleeping sent the ball to Clark whose shot hit the post and went into the back of the net. A couple of minutes later it could have been two to Stanley when Prichard put the ball wide with Daniel Iversen stood watching. The Millers second substitution saw Kyle Vassell make way for Ben Wiles. With fifteen minutes to go Rotherham should have been back in front after another Barlaser corner found the head of Wood who put the ball just over the crossbar. A poor challenge on Matt Crooks earned Mark Hughes a yellow card. The hosts brought on Bobby Grant and Colby Bishop for Benny Ashley-Seal and Dion Charles while Rotherham’s final change saw Josh Koroma on for Michael Smith. Ladapo saw a shot blocked before a header from Michael Ihiekwe went wide. Joe Pritchard went off and Offrande Zanzala took his place. With the game looking like it would end with a point to each side the board went up for six added minutes. And it was in the first of those minutes that Barlaser sent a lovely ball into the box and Wiles followed it jumping high to head the ball into the net and again the travelling contingent went wild. Stanley came so close to equalising again when Zanzala headed over with the goal at his mercy while the Millers could have made it three in the final minute when Crooks smashed an effort in which hit the upright and went out to safety.
Well after a drab first half and a lot of Millers pressure in the second half coming to nothing the six minutes of time added on were probably the most exciting of the game!
Stanley certainly didn’t make it easy for Rotherham this afternoon with the wind probably spoiling what might have been a thrilling game.
In the end we came away with three points which keep us at the top of the table thanks to a Ben Wiles header – yes, you read that right a Ben Wiles header! And you all know that he’s ‘one of our own’ don’t you!
Attendance – 3,447 – 1,577 Millers)
Referee – Sebastian Stockbridge
