Hat-Trick Sends Millers Reeling Out Of Cup

Rotherham United said goodbye to their run in the FA Cup this afternoon at the EBB Stadium when a Danny Hylton hat-trick put Aldershot into the draw for the next round.

The Millers had the brighter start and it looked like Daniel Nardiello was going to put them into an early lead after he got his head to a Ben Pringle corner but saw the ball smack against the crossbar and then put away to safety by the home side. But with Aldershot's first attack they scored. A good ball into the box from former Miller Kieron Cadogan found Danny Hylton who stabbed the ball into the back of the next from six yards out. On fifteen minutes the Millers had a great chance but Nardiello shot into side netting when perhaps a better move would have been to give the ball to Pringle who was on his own. On twenty-three minutes a simple free-kick from Cadogan saw Hylton rise in the air above everyone else and put the ball into the back of the net to make it two-nil. Hylton nearly had his hat-trick on twenty-seven minutes when he took a free-kick which was punched away by Andy Warrington in the Millers net and then hoofed away to safety. Just after the half-hour mark Ben Pringle took a free-kick but it was easily saved by Jamie Young the Shots' 'keeper and Young again saved well a few minutes later from a Nardiello header. The final five minutes of the half belonged to the Millers and Danny Rose blocked a shot from Nardiello and from the resulting Pringle corner Young did well to punch clear.

The Millers rang the changes at the start of the second half replacing Nardiello and Michael O'Connor with new boy Adam Morgan and Courtney Cameron. But it was the Shots who reacted the better when on sixty-two minutes a flicked header from Cadogan fell sweetly for Hylton and he put the ball under Warrington for his hat-trick. There was a question of off-side but the goal was allowed to stand. Seven minutes later at the other end Cameron put the ball into the area where it was handled by Ben Herd and from the resulting spot-kick Lee Frecklington scored to make it three-one. And minutes later it could have been three-two when Frecklington let fly from some twenty yards out and with Young beaten the Millers faithful saw the ball smack against the post and go out to safety. It went from bad to worse for the visitors when Kari Arnason received a second yellow card for a late tackle on Troy Brown although minutes later referee Gavin Ward evened it up when he gave Danny Hylton a straight red for an elbow on Jason Taylor. In time added on Andy Warrington had to be on his toes to save from Michael Hector and from the counter attack a fingertip save from Young denied Adam Morgan his first Millers goal.

Oh well, no 'big' team for us at New York this season - back to concentrating on the league.

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