On Saturday 29th
March, I went to the New York Stadium to see Rotherham United take on Bristol
City in SkyBet League One. For this game I played mentor to a number of Y9
students from Wales High School who had been taking part on a sports journalism
course with the Rotherham United Community Sports Trust.
On the day, it was my
responsibility to make sure that the students were not only making detailed notes
on the game, but also that they had challenging questions to ask some of the
players after full-time. Then, at half-time, I got the chance to write up a
match report on the G4S Trophy final – this will be printed in the programme at
a later date.
After the game I also
had to chance to interview a number of the players. This was something I had
been planning for as I was yet to interview a player after a match.
I was personally
looking forward to the fixture as both sides came into the game on long
unbeaten runs and in good form - Rotherham 14 without loss and Bristol City six
without tasting defeat. A win for the Millers would see them keep up their
automatic promotion push, whereas a win for the Robins would push them further
away from the League One relegation zone.
Match report below:
Rotherham United
moved to within one point of third-placed Leyton Orient after defeating Bristol
City in a hard-fought encounter at the New York Stadium on Saturday afternoon.
Two stunning goals
from James Tavernier either side of half-time secured the Millers all three
points after Wade Elliott had equalised for the travellers at the start of the
second-half.
Ahead of the game, Steve Evans chose to stick with the same
side that had comfortably seen off promotion rivals Brentford on Tuesday night
by three-goals-to-nil. This meant that Nicky Adams again kept his place in the
starting line-up after impressive performances against Peterborough United and
the Bees.
Wes Thomas, however, missed out on a place on the bench as a
troublesome thigh injury kept the ex-Bournemouth striker out for the third game
in a row.
The Robins made just one change to the starting-XI that had
seen off Port Vale 5-0 on Tuesday night, with winger Marlon Pack dropping to
the bench for Simon Gillett, who returned after being rested in midweek. Adam
El-Abd also returned to the squad and took his spot on the bench replacing Liam
Kelly.
The game started in the best possible fashion for the Millers,
and after just two minutes they took the lead through full-back James
Tavernier.
A free-kick was awarded to Rotherham after winger Nicky
Adams made a brilliant run down the right of the pitch before drawing a foul
out of City defender Greg Cunningham. Ben Pringle played a curling ball into
the box which was headed clear by Nyron Nosworthy, but only as far as Millers
midfielder Richard Smallwood. The Middlesbrough-loanee then played a pass into
the path of Tavernier who took a touch before firing a powerful, right footed
shot past the outstretched arms of Frank Fielding and into the back of the net.
Minutes later, Adams was again involved as he played a low
ball into the centre of the Bristol City box. The cross fell kindly to forward
Alex Revell, who turned and shot towards goal, but his effort was comfortably
blocked and the danger was cleared.
The Millers continued to push for a second goal, and moments
later Kieran Agard had a chance of his own to double the advantage. Ex-Crawley
man Adams again pushed down the right before playing a dangerous ball into the
box, this was met by top scorer Agard, but his header sailed agonisingly wide
of the target.
The Robins’ first real chance of note came in the 27th
minute, when Cunningham pushed forwards towards the Millers’ back line and took
on a shot from distance. Despite the defender’s best efforts, the right footed
effort comfortably flew high and wide of the target.
With half an hour gone, Rotherham were looking the more
dominant side and really should have doubled their lead through Smallwood in
the 31st minute. Again, Agard picked up the ball on the edge of the
box before picking out Smallwood who scuffed a tame shot wide of the right
post, much to the agony of the home crowd.
As time went on, the Millers only continued to push forward
and Agard again came close to adding to his tally for the season when winger Pringle
played a dangerous through ball across the Robins’ back line. Top scorer Agard
charged past the defence but saw his left footed shot fire just wide of the
goal and into the sponsor boards.
The first yellow card of the game came in the 39th
minute, and the booking went the away side’s way. Revell’s clever turn proved
too much for defender Cunningham to handle, as he hacked down the Millers’
front man from behind, leaving the referee with no choice but to award the
first yellow of the match.
Despite the majority of play falling to the Millers, the
half ended with a chance for the visitors.
Martin Paterson collected the ball on the edge of the box,
with both time and space to pick his spot. His left footed shot from outside
the box went close, but fired wide to the left of the goal, leaving the Robins
trailing by a goal to nil at the interval.
Half-time: Rotherham United 1-0 Bristol City
The second-half started much where the first had left off
and this was with a Bristol City chance, which this time around would not be squandered.
In the 48th minute, Wade Elliott picked up the
ball in the middle of the park, and despite having little room to manoeuvre, he
turned and ran at the Millers’ defence. The veteran midfielder then unleashed a
powerful right footed shot, and despite Smallwood’s best efforts to block, the
ball flew past Adam Collin and into the back of the Rotherham goal.
The equaliser didn’t faze the Millers though, and just
minutes later Adams was again involved as he played a ball across the box to Lee
Frecklington, who took on a left footed shot from just outside the area. The effort
was a powerful one, but the ball flew past the post and the scores stayed
level.
It didn’t take much longer for the Millers to go back in
front though, and in the 59th minute the away side conceded a
free-kick when Robins’ goalkeeper Fielding handled the ball outside the 18-yard
box in an attempt to hurry a clearance.
Man-of-the-match Tavernier menacingly stood over the set
piece, and sure enough the Newcastle loanee fired a powerful shot into the top
right corner of the City goal, making sure the visitors paid heavily for their
mistake.
The second booking of the game also went in the direction of
the away side as Simon Gillett unfairly brought down Agard as he charged
towards the visitors’ goal. Tavernier again took the free-kick, but this time
played a curling ball into the Robins’ box, which saw the City defence clear
for a corner. A cross was played in by Pringle, but the danger was cleared.
The Millers continued to push for a third goal and just minutes
later a corner was conceded by Nosworthy after continued pressure down the left.
Pringle played in the ball which Agard headed towards goal only for Fielding to
palm into the path of Smallwood, who somehow saw his and Adams’ efforts blocked
by a resolute Robins’ defence.
As time went on, chances of note came few and far between
and in an effort to salvage something from the game, Steve Cotterill made a
triple substitution in the 83rd minute bringing on Marlon Pack,
Tyrone Barnett and Adam El-Abd.
The changes proved to make an impact, and both Derrick
Williams and Karleigh Osborne went close with long range efforts towards the
Millers’ goal. Collin held strong though, and Rotherham claimed a huge three
points in the fight for automatic promotion.
Full-time: Rotherham United 2-1 Bristol City
After the game Joe Skarz commented on the match, saying: “It
was a great victory. Performance wise first-half, I think we were really good.
In the second-half they came at us, but it’s all about winning at this stage of
the season and we’re delighted to take the three points”.
Lee Frecklington also said: “I think we started the game
really well. In the first-half, we played some good football and we managed to
go in front with a wonder strike from Tavs (Tavernier), and even though we
conceded early in the second, I knew we’d get back in the game and take all
three points”.
Rotherham: Collin, Tavernier, Arnason, Morgan, Skarz, Adams
(Milsom 88), Smallwood, Frecklington, Pringle (Vuckic 80), Revell (Davis 89),
Agard
Unused: Shearer, O’Connor, Addison, Hitchcock
Bristol: Fielding, Williams, Osborne, Cunningham (El-Abd
83), Wagstaff, Elliott, Baldock, Emmanual-Thomas (Pack 83), Gillett, Nosworthy,
Paterson (Barnett 83)
Unused: Richards, Moloney, Pearson, Burns
Attendance: 8607 (743)
Programme and ticket.
My pass for the day.
Interviewing Wes Thomas.
The group in the tunnel.
The group interviewing Scott Shearer.
Me interviewing Lee Frecklington.
