It was another one of ‘those nights’ at the New York Stadium as the Millers defied a 3 point deduction to ensure survival, condemning Millwall and Wigan Athletic to the drop.
The game was a tense and cagey affair as both sides looked to weigh each other up. The Millers understandably looked very nervous in what was a pivotal fixture for them, whilst on the other hand Reading looked fairly lethargic after a run of three games in a week. Rotherham finally took the lead in the second half when Danny Ward’s low cross was poked home by Matt Derbyshire. Moments later the Millers scored again in a goal which was almost a carbon copy of the opener. This time though Wards cross evaded Derbyshire and found Frecklington at the back post, the midfielder gleefully accepted the gift, poking home his second goal of the season. Reading rallied late on and threw everything at the Millers, something which provided to anyone who doubted it evidence of the integrity of the Championship. Oliver Norwood scored with three minutes to go, setting up a tense final few moments at the New York Stadium
The Millers had to dig deep and hold their nerve with safety on the horizon. As Lee Gregory and the rest of Millwall found out on Tuesday though, the Millers do have ‘bottle’ and saw the game out to guarantee their survival somewhat against the odds. The referees final whistle sparked delirious scenes of celebration for the Millers whose fairytale few years continued. And in a week where Bournemouth have quite rightly claimed the headlines for their remarkable promotion to the Premier League, another one of the teams sat with the Cherries on -17 points at the bottom of the Football League in 2008/09 showed what can be achieved with a little bit of commitment, character and belief.
| Emiliano Martinez: Could have done better with Norwood’s shot. Aside from that he helped his team massively with his strong and commanding presence in the box. | 7.0 |
| Jack Hunt: Solid defensively. A little frustrating getting forward at times, don’t think he offered himself enough. Would love to see him back at the NYS on a permanent basis though. | 6.5 |
| Kirk Broadfoot: Solid again until injury forced him off after an hour. | 7.0 |
| Craig Morgan: Captains performance, solid again. Should be offered a new deal. | 7.0 |
| Danny Lafferty: Again another solid display from the Burnley left back. Another one who I’d like back at the NYS next season. | 7.0 |
| Lee Frecklington: Lee Frecklington popping up with a goal in a big game was no surprise for the Millers’ fans. He’s a player who thrives off the key matches and he did so on this occasion. | 7.0 |
| Kari Arnason: Assured performance in the middle of the park. Looks at home. | 6.5 |
| Richard Smallwood: Much better than his performance on Saturday, which was a minor blip in what has been an outstanding season for Smallwood. | 6.5 |
| Ben Pringle: Part of the remaining ‘Old Guard’ who helped the Millers to successive promotions. Pringle is another big game player and again he delivered. Worked hard both going forward and defensively and kept finding pockets of space to get the ball into the box. | 6.5 |
| Matt Derbyshire: Responded to his set back on Saturday with a very well taken goal, which took him to ten for the season. | 7.0 |
| Danny Ward: Two assists and a lively performance. He’s worked very hard since coming to the Millers after mixed reviews from Huddersfield fans. He looks leaner, quicker and hungrier. Could be a big player next season. | 7.5 |
Substitutions
| Jordan Bowery: His pace and power was a key outlet for a tiring Rotherham side in the latter stages of the game. | 6.5 |
| Paul Green: Came on late, with little time to make an impact. | N/A |
| Richard Wood: Came on for Broadfoot and was solid whilst on. | 6.5 |
Reading
| Mikkel Anderson: Looked very nervous. The two goals he conceded were due to poor pieces of goalkeeping and he almost dropped another effort into his own net. | 5.0 |
| Stephen Kelly: Solid enough, limited going forward. | 6.0 |
| Michael Hector: Looked clumsy and lacked composure on the ball. | 6.0 |
| Jake Cooper: Same as Hector, looked uncomfortable. | 6.0 |
| Chris Gunter: Reading’s strongest defender. Got forward well and looked decent defensively. | 6.5 |
| Jem Karacan: Controlled the midfield from 60 minutes onwards, until then he was anonymous. | 7.0 |
| Oliver Norwood: His performance was a shining light during a poor performance. Moved the ball about well and scored a great goal. | 7.0 |
| Nathanial Chalobah: I think he had a strong performance too. Broke up play well. | 6.5 |
| Jordan Obita: He was a lively outlet with his pace, but final ball was lacking. | 6.0 |
| Pavel Pogrebnyak: Made little impact, thought he was poor personally. | 4.5 |
| Simon Cox: Tore Rotherham apart at the Madjeski earlier in the season. Didn’t have the same impact in this game. He was well marshalled by the Rotherham defence. | 6.0 |
Substitutions
| Jamie Mackie: When he came on it gave Reading a spark. Should have started. | 6.5 |
| Gareth McCleary: Like Mackie, offered a spark to the team and Reading looked much more dangerous when he came on. | 6.5 |
| Jack Stacey: No time to make an impact. | N/A |
Man of the Match
| Danny Ward: As mentioned he received mixed reviews from Huddersfield fans when he joined the Millers from the Terriers in January. Since his transfer he has worked incredibly hard to get in shape and now looks like a key player for the Millers. In terms of the match itself, he created two goals, worked hard and won his fair share of headers for a small player. | 7.5 |
