SkyBet League One:  Rotherham United 0 Lincoln City 2 

The rival teams who were two divisions apart last season entered the fray in a packed New York Stadium in front of a very good 10,706 attendance including 2,320 who had made the relatively short journey from Lincolnshire. The weather was warm & muggy with a very strong swirling wind upon kick off.

LINE UPS:

The recently relegated Millers lined up in a 4-3-3 formation as follows:

1; Iverson

3; Mattock (c) 15; Robertson, 20; Ihiekwe, 22; Olasunde

4; McDonald, 17; Crooks, 11; Barlaser

7; Vassell, 24; Smith, 10; Ladapo

Last season’s League 2 Champions the Imps lined up in a 4-2-3-1 formation as follows:

1; Vickers

3; Toffolo, 6; Bolger, 16, Bostwick, 23; Eardley

4; O’Connor, 19; Morrell

10; Payne, 18; Grant, 26; Anderson

17; Walker

Unusually for the NYS both teams were attacking the end their more vociferous fans were housed in the first half.

The hosts were quickly onto the front foot as you might expect & had two efforts on goal in the first five minutes, firstly Kyle Vassell’s fierce drive was well wide then midfielder Matt Crooks header from an Olasunde cross was well over the bar. On 15 minutes Olasunde had a clear shooting opportunity when a cross was cleared into his path & his powerful 25 yard effort was only just wide of Vickers right hand post. As you may expect this was turning into a physical bruising encounter & the Millers had Olasunde booked & he was soon followed by the Imps Morrell for over eager challenges. On 25 minutes with the Millers continuing to press, new signing Freddie Ladapo hit a dipping drive from range that ended inches over the bar. Five minutes later Ladapo hooked wastefully wide from close range following a good Dan Barlaser ball in.

Crooks was the next Millers player to test Vickers but the Lincoln keeper saved his effort from range comfortably. Little was seen of City as an attacking force but out of the blue on 42 minutes they were ahead. An innocuous looking free kick caught the Millers defence sleeping & Tyler Walker was through on goal, his shot beat Iverson but went in off the unfortunate Shaun McDonald who only diverted his attempted clearance into the net to give the Imps the advantage. Boosted by the goal Lincoln almost doubled their lead in first half injury time when only a superb Iversen save from a goalbound Walker header prevented Lincoln doubling their lead.

HT: Millers 0 Imps 1

The Millers were almost level within moments of the start of the second half. Mattocks superb ball was perfect for McDonald whose header produced a superb stop from Vickers before Lincoln doubled their lead on 48 minutes.

Jorge Grant’s left sided flag kick was headed home powerfully by the unmarked Harry Anderson. The two goal lead visibly deflated the Rotherham players & their frustration boiled over with a booking for Crooks for a cynical lunge on Anderson & striker Vassell soon followed him into the book with a high challenge on Lincoln defender Cian Bolger.

Although having the lion’s share of possession the Millers were finding it hard work to unlock Lincoln’s well drilled defence & the home fan’s frustration was becoming evident. Crooks & Ladapo wasted presentable opportunities before McDonald was the next Rotherham man in the book for cynically holding back Jack Payne when he looked to be breaking through on goal. As the game entered his final quarter hour Lincoln’s Michael Bostwick headed Clark Robertson’s goalbound header off the line with Vickers beaten to preserve his teams two goal lead. Forwards Proctor & Morris were introduced for the hosts as was midfielder Wiles but this didn’t have the desired effect with the Imps in control of the game. Proctor’s header did produce another tremendous Vickers save however with the minutes running out before the Imps almost put some gloss on a magnificent result when Iversen had to be at his best to deny Imps sub Bruno Andrade when through on goal.

RESULT: Millers 0 Imps 2

Even the most die-hard Millers fan couldn’t fail to deny that City deserved the three points. In many ways it was a perfect away performance from Danny Cowley’s men. As industrious as always, defensively superb, quick & mobile on the break & obviously well briefed as to the opposition.

Back to the drawing board for Paul Warne’s Rotherham. They played well in patches but they must learn to actually take their chances, especially when they are on top as they were in the first half, a reality check for life in the third tier.

words Ian Bradley, D3D4 Rotherham correspondent