THE GAME
There were two changes to Rovers’ starting lineup following the previous week’s defeat at Northampton.
Sil Swinkels started in place of the injured Connor Taylor while Grant Ward came in at the expense of Luke Thomas.
Inigo Calderon’s side made a dream start to the match, scoring within five minutes. Chris Martin and Ruel Sotiriou exchanged passes down the left and Sotiriou netted when he hit a low shot past goalkeeper Dillon Phillips from a tight angle.
At the other end Jed Ward made routine saves from Joe Powell and Sam Nombe while Sil Swinkels blocked a shot from Pelly Mpanzu. It was almost one way traffic as the visitors searched for an equaliser and it duly arrived nine minutes before the break.
Ward managed to block a Nombe effort but the ball rebounded to the striker who made no mistake from close range. A second goal almost arrived soon afterwards when Powell’s inswinging corner evaded everyone, hit the crossbar and was cleared.
Isaac Hutchimnson might have restored the lead for Rovers, but after being played in by Sotiriou, his tame shot was comfortably dealt with by Phillips.
Seven minutes into the second half Rotherham took the lead when Powell’s cross was headed home by central defender Zak Jules.
It might have been worse as The Millers saw Ward make an outstanding save from Nombe while Wilks just failed to reach a through ball from Mpanzu.
Calderon had seen enough just after the hour mark and made a triple substitution which, for a while, breathed new life into his lethargic side. Promise Omochere headed over when well placed, but the equaliser arrived with 72 minutes on the clock when Thomas swung in a delightful ball from the left and Swinkels headed home from close range.
It seemed that Rovers, who were not really at the races for much of the game, might salvage a point from a distinctly average performance, but it wasn’t to be.
Two minutes into time added on a fouled by Luke Thomas allowed Powell to launch the ball into the area and when the ball was headed towards goal, Nombe nipped in to claim a winner for the visitors.
THEY SAID WHAT?
‘If I said the last result, against Northampton, was hard to take, today was probably even worse because being at home, especially after being 2-1 down, we were able to score the equaliser. Dropping the point in the last bit is not what you want, but I don’t think we had a good day today.
I think when we scored too early, we were a bit complacent and waiting to see what happens. It was a good start. When we play a little bit, we create chances, and we look alright, but we stopped playing. Then we have to defend more, and they were stronger than us. I think we made our lives more difficult during the game.
‘I didn’t like the start of the second half. I don’t think we started well at all. I think it was coming again. After we conceded the goal, the game was not going in the right direction. We tried to change the shape, we have two players up front, we changed the personnel, and I think we affected the game well. It was probably the best moment of the game that we saw. We scored the equaliser. That was really important because that was a key moment for us, but I think after that, the game was a bit dead, and there was nothing in the game. It gives them a chance to score if you make a mistake, and that happened.’ (Rovers Head Coach Inigo Calderon)
‘It was a tough ending. It was a scrappy game, but normally when you play Rotherham, it is a bit like that. When it went to 2-2, I thought there was only one team that was going to win the game. It’s a tough one to take for the lads, but we’ve got to reset and go again for Tuesday’s game at Shrewsbury.
It seemed like the way we started it was just going to be one of them days again. The fans were behind us, and we started well, but maybe just a few sloppy goals put us on the back foot a little bit in that half, and we found it tough.
‘It gives them a bit of momentum. Their fans are behind them, and now it’s on us to go and get the next goal. You push forward, and when they play it long, it’s tough for you to go and get the second. Rotherham make it hard for you. They know what they are doing, and they just make it a scrappy game. I think we definitely deserved at least a point out of the game. It’s a tough one to take, but it’s football.’ (Rovers midfielder Grant Ward)
‘When I first arrived here I told Sam Nombe how I hated that he always gave me heartache when he was at Exeter. He always seemed to be really good against my teams , but thankfully he’s doing the opposite now and giving me lots to smile about.
‘Sam now has ten goals to his name this season, but I’d like him to push on to the 17 or 18 goal mark, like he was with Exeter when we paid £1.3m for him. We’re now starting to see the best of Sam after he had to play as a loan striker in the Championship, which was tough going.
‘It was a sloppy goal that allowed Rovers to take the lead. We could have defended better all over, but I think from thereon in a lot of the game was ours and we were by far the better side. We deservedly equalised, deservedly went in front and when Rovers equalised again it was poor defending from us. But I looked back at three or four great opportunities we’d had. We could have been 4-1 ahead by then.’ (Rotherham Manager Steve Evans)
