Rotherham United grabbed an important win in the Championship relegation scrap with Derby County.
Wayne Rooney was made to wait for his first win as Rams’ full-time manager as Jamie Lindsay popped in from a sea of bodies late in the game.
Captain, Richard Wood, should’ve notched up his goal tally in the first half in a 1v1, but it was chalked off in a controversial offside call.
A bright start by Derby brought smart saves from Jamal Blackman in the Millers goal, denying Graeme Shinnie in the opening stages.
The Millers began hunting in packs, pressuring the Rams into possession mistakes and clumsy challenges.
Wood’s first half offside is still in dispute as the ball appeared to hit Michael Ihiekwe in the build-up, playing Wood onside, but the officials thought different and the centre-back’s half volley was scrubbed off.
Derby came out better in the second half, not giving Rotherham the space on the ball they had in the first, but the pressure from the men in red kept mounting with no serious attempts troubling Blackman, however some loose balls fell far too close to the post for comfort.
In the final minutes of normal time, Dan Barlaser placed the ball down for a free kick. The Geordie set-piece marksman rifled the dead ball onto the inside of the near post, somehow not going in.
The ball sailed back in from the right and the smiling Scotsman poked it home.
Rotherham are now level on points with Derby and Sheffield Wednesday, with games in hand.
Teams:
Derby County: Roos, Wisdom, Shinnie (Sibley 83’), Bielik (Bird 67’), Jozwiak, Waghorn, Byrne, Kazim-Richards, Clarke, Buchanan, Knight ©
(Subs not used: Foster, Forsyth, Whittaker, Evans, McDonald, Gordon, Mitchell-Lawson)
Rotherham: Blackman, Wood ©, Wiles, Lindsay, Harding (Robertson 91’), Ihiekwe, A MacDonald, Olosunde, Smith (Ladapo 80’), Crooks, Barlaser
(Subs not used: Jones, S MacDonald, Tilt, Johansson, Hirst, Clarke)
Goals: (Lindsay 86’)
Referee: James Linington
The Wandering Yorkshireman 