A very cold but sunny South Yorkshire afternoon greeted the teams as they entered the NYS arena for this important L1 game.

The League leaders Rotherham fielded the same starting line up that gained an excellent 3-1 win at Oxford the previous weekend so midfielder Ben Wiles continued to deputise for regular LB Joe Mattock.

12th placed Rovers are going through a poor run of form & haven’t tasted victory since an excellent early December victory at Ipswich which was ex manager Graham Coughlan’s last game in charge before leaving to take over at L2 Mansfield.

FIRST HALF

The hosts were the first to show with a wild effort from Matt Crooks that went well wide when he was well placed. In only the 6th minute the Gas had a golden chance to take the lead when an excellent Alex Rodman cross found ex Miller Jonson Clarke-Harris on his own in the area with only Iversen to beat but he hit his shot tamely wide. The Millers continued to make the early running but the Rovers rearguard was dealing with the ariel threat admirably with the Millers struggling to make inroads.

It was the visitors again midway through the 1st half that threatened again with Millers keeper having to turn away Rovers Josh Barratt’s 30-yard free-kick for the games 1st effort on target. Despite having the majority of possession the Millers final ball was falling short, or players were making wrong decisions & towards the end of the 1st period following a booking for Crooks, Clarke-Harris again stung the palms of Iversen’s hands with another well-struck free-kick. The referee’s whistle for HT came with the visitors the happiest of the two teams going into the break.

HT: Millers 0-0 Gas

SECOND HALF

Whatever was said to the Millers players obviously paid dividends as they went for the Rovers defence from kick-off. Striker Michael Smith was just wide within a minute of the restart & the hosts were in front on 51 minutes. A lovely Crossfield ball from new boy Adelakun found winger Ogbene in space & his delightful cross was headed home by the in-form Kyle Vassell. The goal celebrations had hardly died down when the League Leaders doubled their advantage just two minutes later with a remarkably similar goal. Adelakun to Ogbene who beat his defender & crossed for Smith to powerfully head home. Rovers were notably dispirited after the two-goal salvo & you could sense the confidence draining from the players The Millers tails were up now & both Crooks & Adelakun went close but credit to the Gas as the game moved towards its conclusion they started to move forward again & sub Clarke & Clarke-Harris both worried Iversen but not unduly with creditable efforts but it was the host who would have the final say on 88 minutes with a third goal. Substitute Freddie Ladapo surged forward & hit an effort that keeper van Stappershoef could only parry into the path of man of the match Ogbene to tap home his first Millers goal.

FT Millers 3 Gas 0

Everything seems to be going the Millers way right now, the confidence both in the players & on the terraces seems high but one thing the club do have is a manager in Warne & a coaching staff that will keep everyone’s feet firmly on the ground for the latter stages of the season. As Warne himself said nothing has been achieved yet.

3-0 was a tad harsh on the hardworking Gas side & their first-half performance was good but collectively their heads dropped after conceding twice in two minutes but the team came back to life a little in the latter stages to their credit. You’d have to be blind not to see confidence is low & the unfortunate circumstances concerning their new manager has created uncertainty both on & off the pitch but the squad have proved in the first half of the season they can be a match for anyone & I’m sure once the proverbial dust settles they’ll be fine & a L1 club come August.

words Ian Bradley, D3D4 Rotherham United correspondent