Rotherham United 2-1 Crewe Alexandra
Nombe (55} Holicek (50)
Odoffin (86)
Rotherham United came from behind to get in the hat for the second round of the Carabao Cup this evening with a two-one win over League Two side Crewe Alexandra.
Starting the game with seven changes from the loss at Exeter on Saturday it was Referee Scott Oldham who made the first point in the game showing a very early yellow card to Sean Raggett who gave away a free-kick to Crewe which was easily headed away. A chance for Rotherham saw Reece James send a nice ball into the middle for Sam Nombe who was put off by an Alex defender before a ball in for Jonson Clarke-Harris who went down but a free-kick was given the visitors way. A Crewe throw was tamed by the Millers the ball going into the area finding the head of Clarke-Harris who headed just wide. Another visitors throw was defended by Sean Raggett before he gave it away but some good defending saw the Millers clear before a Liam Kelly free-kick found Joe Powell who sent a shot in which was cleared for a corner by Filip Marschall in the Crewe goal, the set-piece coming into a crowded area and cleared. Clarke-Harris did well to win the ball back and getting to the edge of the area he sent it in for another red shirt when maybe he should have shot himself. Crewe moved the ball forward well between themselves but were repelled by the Millers rearguard before it got into the box before James did well to get the ball through to Clarke-Harris but it was over run and went out for a goal kick to the visitors. A Sam Nombe shot was palmed behind with Powell’s corner finding Raggett who headed across goal but no red shirt was able to get on the end of it. A long throw from MacDonald found Jamie McCart who saw his effort end up on the top of the net. More Millers corners came to nothing before Cameron Dawson, in the Millers goal, was called into action to stop Jack Lenkester finding the net. A nice ball into the box from Nombe found Clarke-Harris but he put the ball behind before Christ Tiehi won the ball back sending it for Clarke-Harris who brought off a good save from Marschall the resulting corner put just wide by McCart. Shaun McWilliams won a free-kick which McDonald took to Clarke-Harris whose ball found its way to Powell whose rocket off a shot was put out for a corner which wasn’t well executed. At the other end it was Lenkester again who found himself with room to have a shot and again Dawson was equal to it. A MacDonald ball into the area was headed across goal by Clarke-Harris but there was nobody to get on the end of it before another good ball in from MacDonald hit Nombe before falling to Raggett who, harried by Zac Williams, stretched putting the ball wide and hurting himself in the process. A free-kick for the visitors was sent in by Lenkester but there was no blue shirted player there to put it in before Nombe won a corner which MacDonald curled in finding Raggett who put the ball over the crossbar sending the teams in goalless at half-time.
Sam Nombe had an early chance in the second half but it was Crewe who opened the scoring five minutes in after a ball in from Ryan Cooney wasn’t cleared finding Matius Holicek who found the top corner of the net. At the other end a Reece James cross deep into the area was punched away by Filip Marschall before the ball was put behind for a goal kick. Nombe won a free-kick which Alex MacDonald put into the box for Shaun McWilliams who sent the ball behind. Another free-kick won by Liam Kelly, which saw a yellow card for Owen Lunt, was taken by Joe Powell who hit the wall, the ball rebounding back to him, who sent it into the box for Nombe to head home for the equaliser. Changes for the visitors saw Kian Breckin, Jack Lenkester and Shilow Tracey make way for Fin Roberts, Joel Tabiner and Kane Hemmings. A Nombe won free-kick was taken by Powell who saw the ball come back to him before getting it back in for Kelly whose shot was well saved by Marschall before another free-kick saw Marschall come to the edge of his box to collect making a bit of a hash about it but was saved by his defence. A change for the hosts saw Hakeem Odoffin on for Shaun McWilliams and the Millers sub was soon in the action fetching off a save from the Alex ‘keeper which was followed by Crewe fetching on Max Sanders for Owen Lunt. A long range effort from Christ Tiehi was put behind for a corner which Powell took finding Odoffin who sent the ball straight into the waiting arms of Marschall. A looping effort from Liam Kelly saw the ball finish on the top of the net before a poor back pass at the other end put Cameron Dawson under pressure but he managed to clear before the Millers’ ‘keeper saved a Matius Holicek shot with his feet. The Millers brought on Esapa Osong for Christ Tiehi while another change for the visitors saw Max Conway make way for Mickey Demetriou. With four minutes of the ninety left the Millers won a corner which found MacDonald who in turn sent the ball to Clarke-Harris his cross to the back post was perfect for Odoffin to head in and put the Millers in front. As the board went up for a further five minutes Clarke-Harris got on the end of a James cross but headed wide before a shot from Odoffin was an easy save for Marschall.
A first win of the season for Rotherham and a place in the second round of the Carabao Cup – you really can’t ask for more than that.
Attendance – 2,182 (197 Alex fans making the trip)
Referee – Scott Oldham
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