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Dan Barlaser’s 85th-minute free-kick condemned Blackpool to defeat at Rotherham United in their first game of 2020.
The Seasiders appeared to be battling their way to a hard-earned point in this New Year’s Day clash after Armand Gnanduillet had cancelled out Michaell Smith’s opener.
But Barlaser’s late strike saw Pool slump to a third defeat in four to cap off a miserable festive period, taking just one point from their four games in the 12-day spell.
Simon Grayson made three changes to the side that drew 1-1 against Tranmere Rovers on Sunday.
In came Jordan Thompson, Sullay Kaikai and Nathan Delfouneso, while Callum Guy, Liam Feeney and Joe Nuttall all dropped down to the bench.
Jak Alnwick missed out with a bicep injury once again while new signings Grant Ward and Jordan Thorniley weren’t involved.
Former Seasider Clark Robertson, who scored in the reverse fixture at Bloomfield Road, missed out with a hernia problem.
The Millers, buoyed by back-to-back victories in the lead-up to this encounter, made a bright start, forcing two early corners.
The second almost resulted in the breakthrough after just four minutes, Dan Barlaser’s delivery narrowly eluding Freddie Ladapo from within the six-yard box.
It was a sluggish from the Seasiders, but they came close with their first venture forward as Thompson almost picked out Armand Gnanduillet on his own in the centre after a quick break.
Matt Crooks then dragged a shot well wide from 25 yards after the huge Rotherham midfielder pounced upon a weak clearance from Ryan Edwards.
On 17 minutes, Nathan Delfouneso squandered a priceless chance to give the Seasiders the lead as he blazed over from point-blank range.
The forward had played Gnanduillet in down the right before latching onto his teammate’s pullback, yet failed to test the keeper with his first-time strike.
The men in blue were made to pay for that miss just a few moments later when the home side took the lead in the simplest of fashion.
Beanpole striker Michael Smith got above Edwards from a Dan Barlaser corner to rise high, his header ending up in the back of the net via the underside of the crossbar.
The Seasiders continued to be frustrated in their attempts to get back in the game, Jordan Thompson showing signs of desperation by falling to ground too easily on a couple of occasions.
Things almost went from bad to worse for Grayson’s men when Mark Howard and Ben Heneghan collided on the edge of Pool’s box, providing an opportunity for Michael Ihiekwe.
But his lobbed attempt was charged down and eventually cleared away from danger.
They probably didn’t deserve it, but Pool drew themselves level on 34 minutes as they capitalised on some lax Rotherham defending.
The Seasiders produced a well-worked corner to allow Thompson the space to find Gnanduillet unmarked at the back post.
The striker made no mistake - heading beyond keeper Daniel Iversen who was caught in no man’s land - to notch his 14th goal of the season, matching last season’s total on the first day of 2020.
Having felt aggrieved to have been pegged back, the Millers looked to immediately restore their lead as Ogbene blazed wastefully over after embarking on a mazy run into the Blackpool box.
Grayson, clearly dissatisfied with his side’s first-half showing, made a double change at the break by replacing Thompson and Kaikai with Curtis Tilt and Joe Nuttall as Pool went 3-5-2.
Tilt almost made a nightmare introduction, appearing to haul goalscorer Smith to the ground inside the 18-yard box only for the referee to wave away the home side’s impassioned appeals.
At the other end, Pool showed signs of improvement as Matty Virtue came close to giving Pool the lead only to be denied by a sprawling save from Iversen after being slipped in by Gnanduillet.
The game began to open up more as a spectacle at this point, with Iversen getting down well to smother Gnanduillet’s low shot from a tight angle.
Jay Spearing, who enjoyed another fine game for the Seasiders, found Husband in acres of space down the left with the wing-back fizzing a dangerous ball across the face of goal that just eluded the sliding Nuttall.
Grayson’s men were reliant on a goalline clearance from Ollie Turton on 65 minutes, the defender heading Smith’s effort away from goal after Howard had failed to deal with a right-wing cross.
Former Seasider Kyle Vassell almost made an instant impact after being introduced by the home side, the striker seeing a first-time effort saved by the legs of Howard.
The two sides continued to exchange changes, Vassell heading over from point-blank range after Nuttall had fluffed his lines in front of goal from 10 yards for the Seasiders.
Vassell appeared determined to net against his former club and he came close again with 12 minutes remaining, curling a 25-yard free kick narrowly wide of goal.
Clearly lacking in confidence, Nuttall was given some encouragement by strike partner Gnanduillet in the form of a high five with eight minutes remaining when the former Blackburn Rovers man bobbled a shot into the turf and well wide when the ball sat up nicely for him 30 yards from goal.
With just five minutes remaining, the Millers were gifted a 25-yard free-kick when substitute Carlton Morris fell to the ground far too easily under limited pressure from Spearing.
The home side took full advantage, the impressive Barlaser slamming home a thunderous strike into the top corner, giving Howard no chance.
Other than a late Spearing strike, which Iversen claimed with ease, the Seasiders were unable to muster much of a response as they slumped to another disappointing defeat.
‘Where there is harmony, may we bring discord. Where there is truth, may we bring error. Where there is faith, may we bring doubt. And where there is hope, may we bring despair’
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Rotherham United Post Match Thread on 17:35 - Jan 1 with 642 views
‘Where there is harmony, may we bring discord. Where there is truth, may we bring error. Where there is faith, may we bring doubt. And where there is hope, may we bring despair’
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Rotherham United Post Match Thread on 17:57 - Jan 1 with 640 views
‘Where there is harmony, may we bring discord. Where there is truth, may we bring error. Where there is faith, may we bring doubt. And where there is hope, may we bring despair’
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Rotherham United Post Match Thread on 19:02 - Jan 1 with 631 views
Rotherham United ended the Christmas period in second place in League One after three consecutive wins, the third coming this afternoon in the home game with Blackpool.
The Millers started brightly with Dan Barlaser and Matthew Olosunde working well together with the former causing problems to the visiting defence with his crosses into the area. Some nice work between Chiedozie Ogbene and Matt Crooks saw Crooks have a shot which went wide. A flick-on from Crooks minutes later found Freddie Ladapo but Oliver Turton got the better of the Millers striker and set-up a counter attack which saw Nathan Delfouneso with too much space in the area but as he was getting teed up to shoot Adam Thompson put him under pressure and the ball blazed over the crossbar. The hosts had had most of the play and were rewarded on twenty-one mintues when Ogbene did well to win a corner which was taken by Barlaser with Michael Smith rising above everyone else to put the ball in the net and give the Millers the lead. It might have been two a few minutes later when another Barlaser corner was whipped into the area which ‘Pool ‘keeper Mark Howard managed to hold on to after the ball came down off the crossbar. A free-kick from Barlaser saw Howard fumble the ball and it fell to Michael Ihiekwe who saw his half-shot cleared by the Blackpool defenders. At the other end the visitors won a corner and Rotherham seemed to be asleep when it was taken short and went in to Armand Gnanduillet at the far post who headed home with both Rotherham players and fans alike asking for off-side — the players even asking the linesman Mr Pashley (or Mr C. Rap as we were calling him) to look at the incident when it was showing on the TV Screen in the corner. Minutes later the hosts had another chance after Ogbene proved too much for his marker and raced down the wing with the ball and got himself into a shooting position but saw the ball go inches over. As the board went up for three further minutes Olosunde did well to get to a ball before Sullay Kaikai who might have punished the Millers further.
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Millers Make It A Happy New Year Featured Image Date: 1st January 2020 at 6:36pm Written by: Caz Neale (Herringthorpe) AddThis Sharing Buttons Share to Facebook Share to TwitterShare to RedditShare to WhatsAppShare to FlipboardShare to More
Rotherham United 2 Blackpool 1 Smith (21) Gnanduillet (34) Barlaser (85)
Rotherham United ended the Christmas period in second place in League One after three consecutive wins, the third coming this afternoon in the home game with Blackpool.
The Millers started brightly with Dan Barlaser and Matthew Olosunde working well together with the former causing problems to the visiting defence with his crosses into the area. Some nice work between Chiedozie Ogbene and Matt Crooks saw Crooks have a shot which went wide. A flick-on from Crooks minutes later found Freddie Ladapo but Oliver Turton got the better of the Millers striker and set-up a counter attack which saw Nathan Delfouneso with too much space in the area but as he was getting teed up to shoot Adam Thompson put him under pressure and the ball blazed over the crossbar. The hosts had had most of the play and were rewarded on twenty-one mintues when Ogbene did well to win a corner which was taken by Barlaser with Michael Smith rising above everyone else to put the ball in the net and give the Millers the lead. It might have been two a few minutes later when another Barlaser corner was whipped into the area which ‘Pool ‘keeper Mark Howard managed to hold on to after the ball came down off the crossbar. A free-kick from Barlaser saw Howard fumble the ball and it fell to Michael Ihiekwe who saw his half-shot cleared by the Blackpool defenders. At the other end the visitors won a corner and Rotherham seemed to be asleep when it was taken short and went in to Armand Gnanduillet at the far post who headed home with both Rotherham players and fans alike asking for off-side — the players even asking the linesman Mr Pashley (or Mr C. Rap as we were calling him) to look at the incident when it was showing on the TV Screen in the corner. Minutes later the hosts had another chance after Ogbene proved too much for his marker and raced down the wing with the ball and got himself into a shooting position but saw the ball go inches over. As the board went up for three further minutes Olosunde did well to get to a ball before Sullay Kaikai who might have punished the Millers further.
Blackpool started the second half with a double substitution seeing Joe Nuttall and Curtis Tilt on for John Thompson and Sulley Kaikai. Matthew Olosunde did well to see Michael Smith in space with the Rotherham striker seeing Mark Howard clasp the ball to his body. The Millers appealed for a penalty five minutes into the half when Smith appeared to be dragged to the floor by Tilt but Mr Adcock wasn’t interested and he was just as uninterested when Michael Ihiekwe was held in the area a few minutes later. Adam Thompson did well to get the ball out to Chiedozie Ogbene who himself did well to get a shot away only to see it go over the crossbar. At the other end James Husband did well only for his shot to miss everyone in the area. The Millers first sub of the afternoon saw Kyle Vassell on for Freddie Ladapo which was followed by some good work by the hosts who saw Ogbene’s shot come back off Howard with the ball falling to Smith who shot towards goal only to see Ryan Edwards hook it off the line and to safety. And it might have been another for the Millers when Vassell saw a chance and hit the ball towards the net only for Howard to stretch out a leg and stop it going in. The second substitute for the hosts saw Ben Wiles make way for Jake Hastie. Some poor decision making from Nuttall saw him look to get the ball to Armand Gnanduillet when it might have been better for him to shoot and the Millers cleared. The first yellow card of the game went to Matthew Virtue-Thick for a terrible challenge, and not for the first time, on Osolunde. Vassell could have scored after a Dan Barlaser corner first found Adam Thompson who in turn found the Millers substitute only for Vassell to head over in front of goal and again a few minutes later when he won a free-kick, took it himself but blazed it just the wrong side of the post. Carlton Morris was the last change for the Millers who came on for Michael Smith for the final ten minutes. A header from Blackpool’s goalscorer down to Nuttall saw the striker put the ball wide, although Millers’ ‘keeper Daniel Iversen looked to have it covered. Morris got the ball from Iversen only to be stopped in his tracks by a silly foul which saw Jay Spearing booked. The resulting free-kick was taken by Barlaser whose shot flew into the top right hand corner of the goal sending the majority of the eight thousand six hundred fans wild. Blackpool threw on Liam Feeney for Oliver Turton for time added on. Iversen did well to get down and smother a shot from Spearing before Mat Crooks was booked for a foul on Tilt and a minute later Husband was booked for the same sort of challenge on Morris.
Three points and we can’t have asked for a better start to 2020 than that!
As a Millers fan it’s been a very very Merry Christmas!
Learning to read clusters is not something your eyes do naturally. It takes constant practice.
Rotherham United Post Match Thread on 19:10 - Jan 1 by spell_chekker
Spell
He all but admits he got the team/formation wrong. You just knew this wasn't the opposition for players like Kaikai, Thompson and The Fonz.
Brings back memories of last season when Terry Mac subbed Anderton twice(?) before half time in matches.
‘Where there is harmony, may we bring discord. Where there is truth, may we bring error. Where there is faith, may we bring doubt. And where there is hope, may we bring despair’
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Rotherham United Post Match Thread on 19:53 - Jan 1 with 621 views
Rotherham United Post Match Thread on 19:53 - Jan 1 by spell_chekker
My immediate reaction was that the starting line up was very narrow, lacking width if you like.
This was obviously done to nullify their direct style.
BUT, let's flip that round.
Get round the back of them, turn them round.
‘Where there is harmony, may we bring discord. Where there is truth, may we bring error. Where there is faith, may we bring doubt. And where there is hope, may we bring despair’
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Rotherham United Post Match Thread on 08:26 - Jan 2 with 598 views
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