Campbell-Ryce and Proctor were relegated to the bench allowing Paolo Vernazza to start in midfield and Rob Scott to play as a third centre back. Scott lined up in the middle of a back three with Swailes to his right and MacIntosh to his left. This allowed Stockdale and Hurst to push further forward flanking a central midfield of Vernazza, barker and MacLaren. Butler and Junior continued their partnership up front.
Kirkman's Brighton Review
Campbell-Ryce and Proctor were relegated to the bench allowing Paolo Vernazza to start in midfield and Rob Scott to play as a third centre back. Scott lined up in the middle of a back three with Swailes to his right and MacIntosh to his left. This allowed Stockdale and Hurst to push further forward flanking a central midfield of Vernazza, barker and MacLaren. Butler and Junior continued their partnership up front.
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The contrast between the styles was apparent with Brighton playing short passes along the ground and Rotherham pumping forward long balls through the air. Leon Knight was proving to be quick and lively while Steve Claridge was using all his experience and guile but Rob Scott, his main marker, played him for the man he is rather than the man he was and restricted his impact.
After 15 minutes good passing and movement opened up the Millers Defence and Pollitt had to race from goal to make an identical save to the one he made against avid Healy of Leeds late on in Monday nights game. A powerful header, from a corner, which flashed just wide, closely followed this. Rotherham were still having plenty of the game but all they had to show was a shot from Junior which was comfortably picked up by Kuipers.
As the half progressed the standard of play deteriorated and both sides were below the standard normally associated with this Division. The game was played increasingly between the two penalty areas and when the attack did not break down because of a mistake the defences seemed to be comfortable. The first 45 minutes produced little of lasting note.
The game continued the same way in the second half and it became increasingly difficult to see where a goal was coming from. Both sides switched the play and individual players found open space but the quality of control or inaccuracy in passing all too often meant that the move broke down or the defence was able to cover. Midway through the half Ronnie Moore brought off Junior for Campbell-Ryce who played up front, both central and on the left. He looked tricky and quick but as yet not incisive. Hurst made a number of flurries down the left wing. This lead to the Millers best spell of the game when they mounted concerted pressure on the home goal, without really carving out a clear-cut opening.
This was partly due to an inability to accurately take a corner or free kick. Vernazza twice, in quick succession, failed to beat the first man. Free kicks and crosses were too often over hit.
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As is often the way this period of pressure lead to the goal which the game hardly deserved, and took everyone by surprise. With 10 minutes to go Brighton made a long clearance. I saw the assistant referee raise his flag and the whistle blew. I assumed there had been an offside but the kick was given to Brighton, for what I could not say. Brighton had taken their kicks quickly all afternoon and this was no exception. The ball was swung from the inside right channel to the left side of the penalty area and before the Rotherham defence was really ready Dan Harding had latched on to the ball to drive home from close in. Proctor replaced Barker for the last 5 minutes but despite huffing and puffing there was no way back.
The result was disappointing on a number of accounts. In many ways this was a more important game for our chances of avoiding relegation than Monday’s win. With Brighton not playing particularly well or showing anything like the level of skill of many of he sides in the Championship the game was there for the taking. By losing we have lost much of the momentum of that win, particularly as other results went against us.
The idea of a back three was certainly right for this game and the defence was very tight, the goal coming completely out of the blue. The extra speed of Scott allied to the solidity of Swailes and MacIntosh helped nullify Knight and Claridge.
However it was strange that with 5 in midfield, including Vernazza making a rare start, Rotherham chose to by-pass the midfield entirely. Long balls up to Junior were the order of the day. Once again his ball control let him down on a number of occasions and he regularly turned into opponents only to lose the ball. Campbell-Ryce offered the only slight glimpse of someone with the ability to beat a player and unlock the opposition but needed more opportunity than the 20 minutes he had. Too often the Millers were shot shy and kept passing the ball square inside of having a try, but as most of the shots were skewed wide or mishit perhaps the lack of confidence was understandable
The final whistle meant that the Millers fans would have a long journey back home to work out how we lost a game against a team we could have beaten. Brighton are certainly not a class apart from us and the mystery, on this showing, is how they have managed to gather twice as many points.
Once again however the midfield and attack were unable to carve out clear chances and put one or two away to take he pressure of a defence which must feel it cannot afford to concede any goals at all.
Once again however the midfield and attack were unable to carve out clear chances and put one or two away to take he pressure of a defence which must feel it cannot afford to concede any goals at all.