Match Reports

Nationwide League Division 1

26 Oct 2002: Rotherham Utd 4 Stoke City 0 Att: 7,078

MERRIMENT FOR MILLERS AS PATHETIC POTTERS ARE THRASHED by AndyP

Following the decent midweek display against Sheffield Utd where Stoke were unlucky not to take something from the game, I saw Rotherham as an opportunity to actually get a result. They have a reputation for being a hard-working, well organised side, but their last few outings proved they had fallibilities, and a good Stoke display might ask them a few difficult questions. So as the carfull of Leeds Stokies set off on a sunny afternoon, hopes were high. However by the end of 90 minutes an ordinary Rotherham side had easily rolled over a Stoke side lacking in passion, and prone to too many mistakes, following a performance that was inept and unacceptable. It was so bad I have struggled to bring myself to write this report, I couldn't face going through it all again!

A week ago I was laughing along with a fellow Leeds Stokie, at the "A View From a Kiln" fanzine pre-match preview of this clash, where they described Rotherham as "the land that time forgot". They weren't wrong! We pulled up at the visiting supporters "car park", which resembled a scrap yard, to be met by an attendant who was not only indecipherable, but literally frothing at the mouth. A very frightening sight. The "car park" was close to being full and we ended up right at the far end near two huge oily puddles, parked between a few rusty old lorries, next to the remnants of a fence beyond which was the main railway line. The last time I was in a place like this was F.McGuiness & Sons of Fowlea Brook! On our way to the ground we did manage to sup a hasty pint in the Millmoor pub. Despite being described as "away fan friendly" it was decidedly lacking in visiting supporters, and to be honest I felt uncomfortable supping admist a large number of very large Millers fans complete with Burberry baseball caps, all with unforgiving looks on their faces.

To be honest Millmoor is a dump. It is like stepping back in time to the days of cloth caps, woodbines, and rattles. The away end is basically an old corrigated iron covered standing terrace with seats bolted to it, and as a result the view is pretty dire. It's even worse than Vale Park! Anything beyond the halfway line is a bit of mystery, and as a result this report maybe a little vague. Dave Kevan elected to start with the same eleven that appeared at Sheffield Utd, which meant a place on the bench for the recovering Greenacre.

Stoke were under pressure very early on and in the very first minute had to defend a corner. The first 15 minutes of the game were fairly even, with Stoke suggesting that they could trouble the home defence if they wanted to. Five minutes in Gunnarsson won the ball well in midfield and came charging goalward before slipping the ball left to Hoekstra on the wing. The Dutchman seemed to have beaten his man with a tricky turn, but as his cross came in the referee (Jeff Winter) blew for a freekick claiming Hoekstra had fouled his man in the process. Two minutes later O'Connor came steaming forward and again found Hoekstra on the left. He played the ball inside to Mooney, but he could only manage a weak chipped shot straight at the keeper. In the same minute Gudjonsson picked up the ball in midfield and went on a run beating defenders before hitting a 20 yard shot wide.

In the tenth minute Cutler was forced to make a brilliant save, tipping an overhead effort from Barker behind for a corner. Two minutes later Stoke were down the other end, and a good move resulted in O'Connor being bundled over in the box, but nothing was given, and the loose ball was handled in a tussle and Stoke were awarded a free-kick just outside the box on the left in almost in line with the corner flag. From the cross Stoke earned a corner, and it was a long cross taken from the right which picked out Thomas, and his header back into the mixer was met by Shtaniuk who could only direct his header straight at the keeper.

After this promising start disaster struck, and Stoke conceded a goal from which they never really recovered. On 15 minutes Clarke looked likely to get to a loose ball on the right wing, but Lee beat him to it and his pace took him past Clarke enabling him to loop a cross to the near post, which was headed home from close range by Barker. Stoke's defensive frailties were now becoming apparent as on 20 minutes a move from the right was switched over to the left where an unmarked player (where was Thomas?) shot wide with time to pick his spot. A minute later Gudjonsson set of down the right wing and delivered a fine cross which Mooney put over from 12 yards attempting an over-head kick.

On 23 minutes Stoke were awarded a free-kick on the right after a foul on Cooke. Hoekstra put in the cross, Shtaniuk headed down, but O'Connor's snap-shot was blocked by a defender. Hoekstra was involved again in the 26th minute. He had wandered over the right wing to speak to the bench, and while there put over two decent crosses in the space of a minute, but no Stoke heads got on the end of them. That was his last contribution as he was subbed seconds later, and replaced by Goodfellow. Goodfellow was involved on 29 minutes when he was freed on the left by an excellent ball from Gunnarsson. He ran into the box, and crossed for Cooke at the near post, but he couldn't swivel 4 yards out to get his shot in, and it ran tamely out for a goalkick. Two minutes later at the other end, Thomas slipped allowing a cross to come in from the left, and the resulting header landed on the roof of the net. On 33 minutes a good Stoke move ended with Goodfellow hitting a shot from the edge of the area, which was smothered low by the keeper down by his post. In the other box Culter was flattened by a striker chasing a long punt down the middle.

Then on 39 minutes Stoke gifted another goal that effectively ended the contest. Clarke had pushed up into midfield and the rest of the defence were looking for offside when a chipped ball from the right fell to Lee on the edge of the area unmarked. Cutler was stranded off his line, and was easily lobbed to make it 2-0 to the home side. It looked a difficult task ahead of Stoke, but on 42 minutes Gunnarsson released Goodfellow on the wing and he speedily cut inside and got a shot in from outside the box, which was smothered by the keeper at his near post. Two minutes later Mooney was clambered upon, and a free-kick was awarded, which was ultimately fruitless. Just on the stroke of half-time yet another bursting run from Gudjonsson was ended by a foul on the edge of the box. Mooney's direct strike woefully cannoned off the wall, but fell to Gudjonsson and his fine shot from 20 yards had to be well saved by the keeper.

So at half-time Stoke were 2-0 down despite having much of the game and creating chances. We weren't ruthless enough with these efforts and the defending at times, especially from the full-backs, had been very poor, and ultimately very costly. It was going to take a very spirited display to take anything from this game. However that was never on the cards after a poor start to the second half. A minute in a fine Gudjonsson ball picked out Goodfellow in the left side of the box, but he couldn't get a cross in. However on 51 minutes Stoke were looking for an offside decision which never came, and the Rotherham striker moved in on goal, and Cutler narrowing the angle caused him to hit the side netting from 7 yards. A minute later Clarke lost the ball and this led to a 20 yard shot being smothered low down by Cutler. Stoke finally conceded the inevitable third on 53 minutes. Rotherham broke into the Stoke half and a Shtaniuk clearance seemingly averted the danger, but Thomas picked up the loose ball and promptly passed it to a Rotherham player. He slipped a ball wide to the incoming Barker who raced through a wrong-footed defence to easily slot past an exposed Cutler from 12 yards. At 3-0 down it was all over and the Stoke display from herein showed it. Any passion, fight, or invention was non-existent, and we were largely an embarrassment.

On 58 minutes Mooney managed a shot from outside the area but it was well wide and greeted by jeers from the home supporters. A minute later a Rotherham corner picked out a striker whose free header just went over from 10 yards with the Stoke defence statuesque. Two minutes later the Millers had the ball in the net again from a free-kick, but it was ruled out by Winter for an apparent infringement, but it looked a fair goal to me. On 64 minutes Thomas put in a good cross which found Mooney towards the left post, but his cross /shot flew wide, and eluded a desperate lunge at the far post. On 67 minutes Stoke were facing a dangerous free-kick 20 yards out when the tenacious O'Connor was judged to have fouled his man when it looked like he took the ball. Cutler smothered the resulting drive, but we were forced to defend another difficult set-piece on 73 minutes after a silly foul by Thomas on the left edge of the box. The effort was deflected over for a corner, which was cleared.

On 78 minutes with the game lost, Kevan made a double substitution removing the disappointing pair of Mooney and Cooke, replacing them with Vanduerzen and Greenacre. Goodfellow moved upfront with Greenacre, while Vanduerzen moved into left midfield. Two minutes later the Belgian was involved as his free-kick on the left was met by a thumping Gunnarsson header which had to be tipped over well by the home keeper. Goodfellow was still a willing runner, and his bursts of pace got him past defenders a couple of times, but he could only finish with poor shots from distance. On 87 minutes the committed O'Connor, still fighting for the cause, was booked after a frustrated foul. The resulting free-kick was curled into the area, flicked on as the defence stood and watched, and Swailes arrived at the back post to head home from 3 yards with the Stoke players desperately looking for a tangible offside call. So at 4-0 a shocking display was nearly over, but Goodfellow managed another couple of runs, but once again finished disappointingly. By the time the whistle went for full time the majority of Stokies were long gone, but those who remained booed off the team as it trudged dejectedly for the tunnel.

Team Marks:

GK Cutler (5) Made one very good save but was awful on crosses and stood rooted to his line in fear time and time again. Does not comand area. Caught out of position for the second goal. What is Ronnie Sinclair teaching him in training?

RB Thomas (4) Awful. Looks totally out of position. At fault for the the third, and nearly very costly on several other occasions. Terrible passing. Needs a spell in the reserves.

LB Clarke (4) Tried to go forward too often without tracking back to defend. Must want to be a midfielder. Caught out of position so many times, poor distribution, and no fight in the second half. Skinned for the first goal, and possibly at fault for the second. Leaves his man with far too much room. Get tighter man!

CB Shtaniuk (5) Left exposed by the weakness of the fullbacks, but stood statuesque allowing free header just over from a corner, and for the fourth goal. Won most headers around the edge of box.

CB Handyside (5) Same as Shtanner really. A quiet display, and collectively the whole defence looked poor and woefully organised. That's his look out so a low mark for Der Kaiser.

RM Gudjonsson (6) A bright and lively first half with decent runs, shots and link up play, and some telling crosses. One of our better players. However faded in the second half especially after the third, and wasn't involved much as it looked the fight had drained out of the side.

CM O'Connor (7) Another good display by James, following his effort at Sheffield. He was the one player who did not give up, and his workrate and tigerish efforts deserved more. Tried to gee up the midfield and fire them up to fight back. Always there to put in a timely tackle and made good forward runs. [STARMAN].

CM Gunnarsson (6) Looked good going forward, and was unlucky with a header which was tipped over. Ruined his good display by continually following up something decent with something sloppy. For example he would win the ball well, surge forward, but deliver a poor ball, give the ball away and allow a Rotherham counter..

LM Hoekstra (6) Good touches in the build up, and got some crosses in from the flanks. Looked to be worrying the home defenders until went off injured.

CF Mooney (5) Can't believe this was the same Mooney as we have seen up to now. Didn't look bothered at all and had no fight. What efforts he had were weak and far from dangerous.

CF Cooke (5) Ineffective. Didn't offer much as an attacking force and too slow to trouble the well organised defence.

SUBS

Goodfellow (6) One of the few who battled on throughout. Used his pace to unsettle the defence but couldn't find the telling final ball, or decisive shot.

Greenacre (5) A lost cause when he came on. Can't remeber him receiving a decent ball to create a chance from though. I would have brought him on for the entire second half.

Vanduerzen (5) On too late to effect the outcome but did manage one good cross which found Gunnarsson's head, and forced a fine save from the keeper.

Conclusion

Stoke looked ok going forward in the first half and threatened the home defence a few time with decent build ups. However at the back they were let down by two shocking displays by the fullbacks, which ultimately left the centre-backs exposed. Cutler also looked shakey. As a result silly defensive lapses cost us dear and prevented any chance of a result here against an ordinary but well organised home side. They did the basics well and were ruthless when gifted the chances. Stoke failed to do the fundamentals right and as the game drifted away from them, were devoid of pride and passion for the cause. Only O'Connor escapes this criticism, and I feel Gudjonsson and Goodfellow made decent showings, but were let down by their team mates. Based on this performance I would banish Messrs Thomas and Clarke to the reserves for a bit, and replace them with Marteinsson and Vanduerzen. I hope Greenacre is soon fully fit and can replace one of the forwards, but most importantly we need to a appoint a manger fast, to provide direction before we slip further into the mire. Rotherham maybe the land that time forgot, but this was a Stoke display I wish I could soon forget, but will probably have nightmares about!

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