Rotherham latest to be put through the mill

Last updated : 11 October 2008 By Andy Ashworth
Dan Brown - dominated at centre half
Hoping to bring our league form into the cup we found ourselves returned almost to full strength this week following the injuries of last week. The display of Ed Williams though gave an opportunity for him to continue and allow a rest for one of our 2nd year defenders, with Nik Kudiersky dropping from the squad. Dan Brown moved across from right back to partner captain Chris Lynch in the middle. Alex-Ray Harvey returned to the midfield and both Wes Fletcher and James Craggs came in upfront, in place of Liam Newman and Dom Knowles.

Our first chance of note came after 5 minutes with a powerful drive from the right boot of Oliver Devenney. The keeper could only beat away the shot from his near post despite his good position, such was its venom. Our opening goal came after a quarter of an hour. Brown strode out of defence with the ball and looked up to see Fletcher making a run. His pass was almost inch perfect, just being cut out by a lunging defender. The ball broke to Craggs though and he completed the move, playing Fletcher in and the striker out paced his marker and slotted past the advancing keeper.

A scrappy period of play then followed. We had half chances for both Craggs and Fletcher and were forced into making a change when Dil Chaggar was unable to shake off the effects of a challenge. Lynch had a goal chalked off for offside when both he and Brown combined in the opposition box following a floated free kick. Rotherham had their sole opportunity of the half with around 5 minutes left. A nice jinking run with a one-two saw the number 7 break into the box, but he was thwarted by the imperious Brown.

Our front two were working their markers well and as the half wound down another shirt pull on Craggs wide on the right saw the number 4 pick up a booking. The free kick was dinked into the box and, when headed out by the defence, found only the rising Chris Anderson, who nodded home. There was a moment of confusion amongst some of the more partially sighted spectators as the ball bounced back out from the net stanchion, but it crossed the line and the goal was given.

Whether it was through frustration at the score or just bad judgement some poor challenges began to come in from our visitors. The numbers 5 and 7 were cautioned as a result and had the (strangely late) half time whistle not sounded it could have started to get a little out of hand. Thankfully it did and all parties were given some time to calm down.

Ten minutes into the second half and it could have been 3-0. Devenney had a shot from the right hand side of the box and again it was too much for the keeper. The ball squirmed from his grasp and Fletcher flicked it goalwards. It was trickling towards the line but a defender sliced it away. It was collected by sub Michael King who hammered it back towards goal, only to see it blocked on the line, possibly by an arm, but the ref waved away any claims.

On the hour mark it was 3 though as Fletcher tucked home his second of the game after King had slipped him in. Craggs then shaved the post after cutting in from the right hand side and evading two challenges. He was again involved as he skinned the sub centre half and getting hauled down, resulting in another booking for the visitors.

Craggs and Fletcher were then replaced by Dom Knowles and Liam Newman. Not long after we had completed the scoring with a good move resulting in an own goal. Brown took the ball from a Williams throw. He fed Anderson who turned and surveyed the field. His ball to Knowles on the right was inch perfect and the cross that the youngster knocked over was a fraction too high for Newman. The defender behind though was obviously aware of King approaching and misjudged the ball in, nodding home at the far post.

With a quarter of an hour left to play Stef Ritchie made his first save of the match. A cross from the left found the Rotherham striker unmarked but a smart reaction save kept his effort out. As the game wound down we picked up a booking - much to the delight of the Millers fans - as Williams cut down his man near the corner flag. Lynch also picked up a rib injury under challenge and was unable to complete the final few minutes of the game.

The win makes it eight on the spin with an average of four goals a game. With that you may expect that our youth team is all about our attacking power and prowess. But despite good performances from a number of the lads today I felt that the man of the match was Dan Brown who really dominated at centre half. Now we await the draw.

Team :- Stef Ritchie, Ed Williams, Jake McEneaney, Dan Brown, Chris Lynch, Dil Chaggar (Michael King), Chris Anderson, Alex-Ray Harvey, Oliver Devenney, Wes Fletcher (Dom Knowles), James Craggs (Liam Newman)
Not used :- Dan McDonald