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Indeed the first real chance of any note did not materialise until the 20th minute when a dangerous cross from the Millers was cleared by the Burnley defence for a corner. As far as the Burnley lads were concerned, it all seemed to involve long balls into the channel. Where is Ian Moore when you need him?!
Rotherham started to look dangerous going forward through the middle, and took an unexpected lead on 31 minutes when a fairly hopeful ball was dispatched on the half-volley by Paul Warne (one of a few players on show with first team experience) past Hale in goal, who was several yards off his line, and would have hoped to be better positioned.
Just four minutes later and the young and inexperienced Clarets side found the deficit doubled as the same player beat Hale from fully 30-35 yards out, with a shot that hit the top middle of the net, leaving a question mark once more over the young 'keeper.
A minute later, and it was almost three, but the resulting "shot" went just wide of the upright.
HALF TIME, and the Clarets (Greys to be precise) were under the cosh, and in need of a good half-time cuppa and regroup.
The second half saw Bradford replace Whittington for the hosts - Oh yes he did! Burnley made a change too, in goal with schoolboy Mark Crossley replacing Michael Hale.
The Clarets started the half brightly, and scored a goal from a corner - the ball being guided over the line by Ryan Townsend, the centre-half. I am unsure as to which body part last touched the ball, but I'd guess a combination of head and shoulder. 2-1 down and a game on our hands.
Indeed it was, for Burnley went close through Booth on 61, a 2-on-1 on 65 and a good breakaway involving Carpenter on 67, as well as a cross which almost fell for Pugh on 70.
Sadly, despite being by far the better side in the second half, the young lads could not catch up. They fell further behind after a weak punch under little or no pressure from the sub keeper Crossley. It fell, unfortunately to a Miller - Warne - who had the simplest of tasks to complete his hat-trick and put the tie seemingly beyond Ronnie Jepson's young charges.
At this point, RJ made a double substitution, with Nicky Platt and Rob Henry replacing Kayne Hanley, who got into good positions but looked a little shot-shy, and Gary Carter, who had done little wrong at the back.
Ronnie was obviously hoping that this might just lead to more goals, and it did. Yes, you guessed it, sadly at the wrong end. A good ball through saw Marc Newsham get there first, and he stroked the ball confidently past the helpless Crossley and into the far corner of the net. 4-1 and a lob-sided scoreline if ever there was one.
Indeed, one Miller fan remarked that they had only had 2 kicks in the entire second half!
The Clarets didn't lie down and die however, and kept battling, with Marc Pugh having good efforts on 80 and 88 minutes, but it wasn't to be.
So, to summarise: a poor 1st half performance in contrast to a good 2nd half. For the youngsters, the steep learning curve continues, and I am SURE at least 2 or 3 of this current crop will be good enough to step up to the first team given the right coaching. Oh, and I should mention in passing that the second half was spent in the very pleasant company of former Claret, and proud Dad of course, Derek Scott - what a nice chap.
TEAMS:
Rotherham: Montgomery, Mudd, Minto, Kay, Ludlum, Clayton, Whittington (Bradford 48), Baudet, Newsham, Warne, Fletcher (Taylor 85).
Burnley: Michael Hale (Mark Crossley 45), Gary Carter (Nicky Platt 77), Paul Scott, Ryan Townsend, Danny Pitham, Darrell Avery, Marc Pugh, Joe Booth, Kayne Hanley (Rob Henry 77), Rhys Carpenter, Tom Ince.