Two weeks ago we were left in disbelief that we somehow managed to take only one point from the derby with Sheffield United. Similarly yesterday we were left in disbelief that a game of total all out attacking, dominated by the Millers, was left goalless.
With Macca and Swailes both out and Talbot departed,
With Sedwick missing and the midfield of Morris, Mullin and Warne outbattling Crewe for every ball and streaming forward to support the attack in every move, Monkhouse chose the day to display his new found confidence in taking up an almost free role in the middle of the park. No longer is this talented winger drifting in and out of games but just as Sedgy found in his first season in Division One, sometimes you have to go and look for the ball. Monkhouse did just that and gave 
The onslaught began early, Shaun Barker striking a right foot shot straight at the keeper from a freekick in the clearest opening of the first 15 minutes before the referee stamped his incompetence onto the game. A typical foraging run by Mullin into the
Mullin, right in front of the referee and directly in front of the worst linesman I have seen since the 
This did however spur
A few minutes later and Monkhouse, now finding space on the right side of midfield, fed a glorious pass down the right flank for
Crewe then responded with a couple of long range shots, firstly Craig Hignett firing over the bar before the impressive Kenny Lunt forced Pollit into his first action from fully 30 yards, the swirling wind clearly helping the force of the shot.
After being outplayed for most of the half, Crewe then nearly took an unexpected lead when Dean Ashton, fresh from his goalscoring exploits with the England U21s against Sweden on Tuesday night, headed down for Justin Cochrane to strike an almost perfect volley past Pollit but thankfully for the Millers it struck the inside of the post and out to safety. Crewe at this point were enjoying the advantage but were failing to create any real chances and by halftime it was
The second half carried on in very much the same vein.
Proctor and Mullin both had long range free kick attempts and
There was no doubting which team were the happier with the point at the end of the match and after the recent run of away performances against teams scraping at the wrong end of the table at least Rotherham can hold their heads up high this morning having done everything except put the ball in the back of the net.
A couple of points to note from yesterdays match. In my analysis following the Arsenal match in October I noted how the Arsenal attack defended by using their strikers to chase down and pressurise the opposing defence, thereby making it difficult to bring the ball out of defence with any purpose and cutting the supply off at the earliest opportunity. Butler and Proctor once again worked tirelessly in closing down every time Crewe tried to bring the ball forward, usually resulting in a long hopeful punt up the field or a hurried clearance out of play. This resulted in Rotherham keeping possession and also added to the frustration of the Crewe performance.
I have heard a couple of disgruntled comments about Proctor’s lack of goals on the message board lately but this is surely nonsense when he possesses such ability of the like I have failed to see in any Rotherham striker in years. His first touch is the most assured of all the Rotherham team and his partnership with Butler has clearly flourished even though they have only played together 9 times.
Man of the Match has to be Shaun Barker. Considering this guy has been out injured for the past few weeks and is only filling in at Centre Back in Swailes’ absence he won every header and every challenge from one of the most highly rated young strikers in this division. Dean Ashton is a tall, stocky, athletic footballer rightly winning praise for his ability and potential witnessed this week in Sweden where he scored the first goal for the England U21 squad. However, at just one year older, our very own Shaun Barker decisively and powerfully won every header against him and consistently won the battles on the ground, tackling and winning possession as well as linking up well in attack both as a provider from out wide and as a goal threat within the opposing box.
A special mention must be made for Paul Warne too. Another player who always gives 100% and takes more than his fair share of stick although most Rotherham fans understand his commitment can never be questioned. Yesterday in typical Warne style he harried the Crewe midfield consistently and tracked back and won so many balls against the run of play turning defence into attack on numerous occasions. 
Although it could so easily have been three points yesterday, any away result has to be seen as a point gained. If we can take maximum points from our game in hand on Tuesday then we will be almost over the finishing line. With Nottingham Forest surprisingly taking three points at Bramall Lane yesterday one of the teams with the most difficult run-ins has suddenly given themselves a lifeline while the surprising home defeat by Walsall has left Derby in a very difficult position although they still have a number of winnable matches left the pressure is now on them to actually go out and win those matches.
Watford still face the most difficult run-in of all the teams in trouble but one good or bad result either way can suddenly place a whole new perspective on the table and it is important that Rotherham gain the necessary points sooner rather than later.