Millers lose to Terriers

Rotherham United lost their last pre-season friendly game at Don Valley yesterday to a Huddersfield Town team who hope to be pushing for promotion to the Championship in the coming season.

The Terriers started the better side and only a brilliant tackle from Ryan Cresswell kept out Jordan Rhodes on twelve minutes. A minute later, at the other end, Lewis Grabban forced Town 'keeper, Alex Smithies into stopping, but not catching the ball, from some twenty-five yards out and Huddersfield defenders immediately surround Adam Le Fondre so he couldn't get to the rebound. Five minutes later Gary Roberts got a good ball through to Rhodes who saw his curling shot just clear the crossbar. At the other end, Le Fondre played a good ball to Dale Tonge who fired narrowly over followed a few minutes later by Tonge repaying Le Fondre and getting the ball to him but the much sought after striker, despite acrobatics in the area, saw Smithies manage to scramble the ball away. On twenty-two minutes it looked like the Millers had got the first goal of the game when Danny Harrison's shot went in from twenty yards out, but a linesman flag deemed that Grabban, further up the pitch, was off side. With Grabban, Le Fondre and Chris Holroyd now getting the better of the Terriers defenders, Grabban did well to get a ball across the six yard line, that eventually, after some poor defending from the visitors, found Le Fondre and although he easily got by Smithies he was stopped on the line by Gary Naysmith, who got the ball away for a corner. In the final five minutes of the half, Cresswell again did well to get a head to a Danny Ward cross to put it over while Conrad Logan did well to save from Donal McDermott. Just before the whistle went to end the half, Rhodes managed to get the ball past Logan but it went just wide.

Although the visitors had a lot of possession at the start of the second half, the Millers kept the ball out of the net and it was Rotherham who went into the lead. Grabban did well down the wing and crossed the ball to Le Fondre who in turn found Holroyd on his own in front of goal and he just tapped the ball over the line. Town thought they'd got the equaliser two minutes later when Roberts clipped a ball over to find Rhodes who put the ball past Logan, only to turn and see an offside flag being raised. That seemed to spur the visitors on a bit and on sixty-three minutes they did make it one-one when McDermott fired through Logans' legs. On seventy-two minutes Lee Novak, who had replaced Danny Ward, got a good ball from McDermott and although his first shot was blocked, the ball fell to him again and he put the Terriers ahead with the rebound. Ten minutes later Novak turned provider when he put the ball through for Rhodes who capped off a good game by slotting the ball past Logan. Gareth Evans may have got a consolation with two minutes to go but Smithies managed to parry the ball away to safety.

Teams
Millers
Logan
Tonge
Newey
Cresswell
Brown
Harrison
Taylor,
Pringle (Smith)
Grabban (Marshall)
Le Fondre (Evans)
Holroyd
Sub not used - Warrington

Terriers
Smithies
Woods
Naysmith (Ridehalgh)
Clarke (McCombe)
Roberts (Kay )
Ward (Novak)
Johnson (Arfield)
Cooper
Rhodes (Lee)
Miller
McDermott (Cadamarteri)
Subs not used - Bennett, Hunt

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