The Lads popped down the M1 to South Yorkshire and were made to look a reet set of Yorkshire puddings as they were basically outthought and outfought.
Mowbray's understandable decision to make changes backfired, with Amad, denied the assistance if his marras Roberts and Hume, looking less than half the player he can be. We might have had the ball in the net three times in the second half, but only one counted. Had it been a marksman contest, and the target our own feet, we'd have won first prize as we made a series of mistakes that cost us dearly. Joff's first SAFC goal might have given us hope, but there was no breakthrough to be had and no point to be salvaged despite some frantic goalmouth stuff in the dying seconds.
With former Lad (well, contractually still ours) Wright (left his Rotherham debut with concussion before touching the ball) unavailable, there was no chance of the Ex-Player Curse striking. More questions were asked about where the inevitable changes would be as we journeyed south.
Alese was high on the list of those in need of a day off, if his puffing and blowing after recent bursts upfield are anything to go by - with Cirkin raring to go. There was always the O'9/Pritch central midfield combo that was such a joyous surprise at QPR. It's great to have those choices - but they didn't work tonight.
After a pleasant stop off in Wakefield, the team news came in.
Patterson
O'Nien Batth Ballard Cirkin
Neil Michut
Amad Pritchard Clarke
Gelhardt
and a bench of Bass, Roberts, Hume, Ba, Ekwah, Bennette, and Alese.
No real surprises in there.
In our smart light blue away kit, we faced the far end and they kicked off on a very obviously shortened and narrowed pitch.
Nothing much happened in the opening ten minutes or so as the home side set themselves up to deny us the space to pass it around effectively. Pritch did get Amad into a dangerous position, but all we got was a corner, which was dealt with. O'9's tackling and playing out from right back was generally OK, but he tended to show his opponent outside then in when run at - isn't that supposed to be inside then out? Anyway, showing their man inside, when he'd come from a fairly central position anyway (leaving Michut in his wake), cost us when he was allowed acres of space to hit a less than thunderous left footer from the edge of the box across Patto and low into the corner. Not the best defending, not Patto's best attempted save.
That was before we’d played twenty minutes, and it was already evident that a few of our players were a bit tired mentally - I’m not making excuses, that’s Big Tony’s job, but while they mostly looked physically perky, there were signs that two games a week, for kids who’ve yet to get a full season under their belts, has proved a bit of a strain.
Still, one of the old wise heads almost got us level soon after, when Pritch curled one towards the top corner, but it was tipped away for another corner on our right. This one looked to have produced dividends when Ballard rose above everyone else, but he thumped his header a yard wide of the back post.
The home side then had a couple of chances around the half hour mark, one of which was blocked and the other headed high, but we also had a half chance, with their keeper getting to the through ball ahead of Clarke.
Rotherham's tactics were a strange but effective combination of denying us space, taking their kicks and throws promptly, and getting the medical folks on at every opportunity - something the ref should really have sorted out early on. Each of these stoppages was lengthened by the rest of their team heading for a chat and a drink of pop in the technical area, which caused frustration in our end. Hugill the smog feigned injury in our box, forcing the ref to halt play as we broke, only to sprint forty yards to foul Ballard after we'd taken the bounce ball on halfway, and got a deserved yellow. Daft get, but the ref should really have either ignored his imaginary plight or picked him up by the ears and booked him before the bounce ball.
As the half drew to a close, Clarke made something from his isolated position out wide and got it to Amad, but he took too long to tee himself up, then put his effort in the back row anyway. He certainly wasn’t having his best night, but both of our wide men were suffering from a lack of close support.
The three added minutes brought nothing more than a wildly inaccurate Joff shot and an injury to a home player that saw him subbed rather than given the chance to make half time for treatment.
We couldn’t really grumble at being behind, as the central pairing of Michut and Neil, while seeing lots of the ball, rarely had an outlet that didn’t have a Miller in close attention, and the home side had been very quick to fill all the spaces we’d have loved Gelhardt to have been running into. Probably the least effective first half of Mowbray's reign.
I'd have had Roberts on for Amad and Alese for Cirkin, as the starting pair had been way off the pace, but the same eleven started the second period – and surely some tactical change would mean that a single goal deficit was enough for us to overturn.
We looked a lot livelier (not a difficult thing) and an early cross would have been dangerous had Pritch been a few inches taller, but he isn’t and it wasn’t. However, not long after that Neil played in a deep cross that looped off a defender’s boot and dropped nicely for Joff to force home – but the flag was up, and replays show that our man was half a yard offside as Neil struck the ball.
Dan was at the heart of the action almost immediately, but for all the wrong reasons. He lost the ball in the centre circle, battled to regain possession, then was promptly robbed again, with Rotherham finding space behind Luke to shoot home a goal that looked remarkably similar to their first.
If anything, that spurred us on to greater effort, so credit to the Lads for not letting their heads go down. Just after the hour, Amad played it to the overlapping Luke, and the cross was a peach, leaving Joff with the fairly simple task of nodding home from a couple of yards at the back post. Right, here we go, thought the visiting fans, and raised the noise a notch or two.
As we’d suddenly achieved the ascendency, Mowbray tried to build on this and chucked some fresh legs on, with Alese replacing Cirkin (no surprise), Roberts replacing Michut (no surprise) and Hume replacing Batth (eh? A bit of a surprise). Pritch dropped into midfield, O’9 went centre half, and Hume went to right back with Roberts in front of him. The presence of the other two of the Three Amigos lifted Amad’s game a bit, but he was being constantly forced away from goal by an organised home defence who stood firm on the edge of the box.
There was plenty of the usual trickery from Roberts, and he almost got in along the line, but a home boot diverted it for a corner on our left. Pritch’s effort went deep to Clarke, but his shot was blocked. Some shouted for a penalty, but the ref had seen nothing untoward – but we should have scored soon after. It was the turn of Roberts to swing one to the back post, but Alese showed why he’s not a striker when, with the ball crying out for a first-time effort, he took a couple of touches which gave a defender the time to get in the way of his eventual shot. We’re only talking fractions of a second here, but they’re the difference between a goal and a corner, a natural striker and a defender in an attacking position.
It nearly got worse as we entered the final ten minutes, as the Millers hit us on the break - but also, thankfully, hit us on the base of Patto’s left hand post. On came Ba and Bennette for Clarke and Pritch, but neither really had time to settle in – although at this stage it was more about going Hell for leather whenever they got the ball than settling into a pattern of play. We went close again, but Joff’s header from another Roberts cross had no real power and was easy for the keeper.
Six added minutes were announced, we con a corner for which Patto came forward as we screamed for the leveller. The ball came in and eventually dropped to Joff, whose shot was blocked and with Patto showing no inclination to return to his natural position, he was part of an almighty scramble that ended when Alese whacked it high into the net. Yet again, it was disallowed but this decision looked really harsh, as their keeper had clattered into O’9 but (as you’d expect) stayed on the floor as if injured. That left just a frantic few seconds as we strove to create something that just wouldn’t be created.
The statistics show that we had two thirds of the possession, but as many managers will tell you, it matters not how much of the ball you have – you have to do something with it. We also managed thirteen shots, five of them on target – but only one counted, while two of Rotherham’s three did.
Far from our best day at the office, I think the gaffer will acknowledge that the team selection wasn’t the correct one and we paid for it. However, we get a chance to put that right in only a few days at Coventry. Let’s hope we do.
Man of the Match? Roberts, even if he didn’t appear until after we’d scored, as his presence increased our attacking threat and so nearly produced a couple of goals.
