The Season That Was 06/07 - October

After a tense first half in which Dave Hibbert appeared to spit at Vale defender Richard Walker, Rotherham eventually broke the deadlock only two minutes into the second half when Michael Keane's curling cross from the left found the head of Cochrane, sending the ball looping into keeper Goodlad's top left corner. The Millers netted a second just six minutes later when substitute Dave Worrell picked out Hibbert at the back post and he climbed above his marker to plant a super header into the Vale net, sending the travelling support barmy.

The Vailiants were thrown a lifeline on 74 minutes as striker Leon Constantine converted a spotkick after Scott Wiseman was caught shirt-pulling in the area. Ultimately Constantine's 7th of the season was a moot point as Goodlad gifted Hoskins the opportunity to lash a spectacular finish into the open net.

The victory saw The Millers close the gap on Leyton Orient to just two points, as The O's held 11th placed Chesterfield to a 0-0 draw.

Having been on a dismal run of no wins in eight and flirting with the relegation zone, Brentford were ripe for the taking on this visit to Millmoor. Despite this the Bees could easily have edged it in the opening exchanges with Jo Kuffor putting a promising effort over Cutler's bar. Later in the half Rotherham's attack pushed on, with Williamson, Hibbert and Partridge all going close. Two minutes into the second half The Millers took a deserved lead as midfield maestro Lee Williamson curled in an inch perfect free kick from around 25 yards out that nipped into the top corner. The Millers went two up on 61 minutes as Richie Partridge was felled in the area after Will Hoskins' driving run, with Williamson blasting in the resulting penalty.

A well-deserved 3 points allowed Rotherham to leapfrog Orient on goal difference, putting The O's bottom of League 1.

After the euphoria of the first back-to-back wins since August, the lads were quickly brought down to earth with a bump on a miserable Tuesday night at Victoria Park as a mere 1,832 saw The Millers humbled in a 3-1 defeat in the Johnstone's Paint Trophy. The home side's goals came courtesy of midfielders Lee Bullock and Ricthie Humphries along with young striker David Foley, with Delroy Facey's concelation goal failing to take the sting out of a dismal result for The Millers.

The rollercoaster that is our fair club continued, as The Millers put in a vastly improved performance against Bournemouth at The Fitness First Stadium.

Millers hotshot Will Hoskins set the tone in the first minute, thumping a shot straight down the throat of Cherries' keeper Gareth Stewart. Eugen Bopp opened the scoring as he blazed a 30 yard strike into the bottom corner after Michael Keane was allowed to wander deep into the Bournemouth half. Parity was restored on 31 minutes as defender Josh Gowling took advantage of the poor marking that would plague The Millers season long and nodded in Darren Anderton's curling free kick. The equalizer was soon cancelled out, as a mere two minutes later Keane was again given space to loft the ball onto Hoskins' head to a chorus of "Easy, easy..." from the Millers' faithful. Lee Williamson bagged the Millers' third goal in 18 minutes completeing a hazy run from the halfway line by cutting inside and sweeping a deft shot into the bottom corner from just outside the area. Kevin Bond ringed the changes in the second half, and though The Cherries' new system worked well with Steve Fletcher and Steven Foley-Sheridan both going close, however poor finishing meant The Millers held on to all 3 points.

Unbeaten in three league games, confidence was high as The Millers went into the final game of the month, entertaining Crew Alexandra at Millmoor.

Having taken Man United the distance in the 3rd round of the League Cup only 3 days earlier the Railwaymen looked drained as Rotherham romped to their biggest win of the season. Despite fatigue it was Crewe who opened the scoring in the tenth minute as Nicky Maynard's shot was parried by Culter as Luke Varney nipped in and slotted away the rebound. This blow glvanised The Millers, and Rotherham equalised on 32 minutes as Ritchie Partridge's cross fell into the path of Will Hoskins, who set up Eugen Bopp to fire a crisp shop past Ben Williams. Partridge bagged a second 9 minutes later, steering the ball home following Hoskins' sublime flick. A Lee Williamson added insult to injury for the visitors after Michael Higdon's bizzare handball. In the second half Will Hoskins scored with a trademark turn and shot into the bottom corner. Richie Partridge capped a man-of-the-match-winning performance (that has seldom been seen since!) by netting his second on 74 minutes firing a fierce shot into the roof of the net after breezing past two Crewe defenders.

The win lifted The Millers out of the drop-zone for the first time all season, but with a tricky trip away to Carlisle and a home tie versus table-topping Nottingham Forest to come in November could the feel-good factor be sustained?.......



Thanks to our resident columnist Tommymiller for this article.