**Rotherham United 1 – 1 Exeter City**
_James (45) Hartridge (56)_A point-a-piece for the teams at the New York Stadium this afternoon in a game that didn’t have much going for it in the first half but livened up in the second.The Millers started the half with a header from Joe Powell finding Shaun McWilliams who shot from outside the box seeing the ball go wide and minutes later another chance for the hosts saw a Joe Rafferty cross find Sam Nombe with the visitors a bit at sixes and sevens only for him to head the ball off target. Josh Magennis found himself in room before sending Pat Jones off on a run who in turn found Levi Colwill who put the ball past the upright before Jones himself got into the box with only some good defending from Liam Kelly stopping him getting a shot away the ball going out for the first corner of the game. Ryan Trevitt curled the ball in from the set-piece looping it over Dillon Phillips in the Millers goal to find former Rotherham player Angus McDonald who hit the ball onto the post. City had a handful of corners before Phillips made a good save at the near post. Minutes later Jones was allowed to run up the pitch without a red shirted player putting a tackle in sending a cross towards the box which McWilliams and a Exeter player tangled for the Millers midfielder winning a free-kick. Rotherham found themselves with backs to the wall again on twenty minutes which ended with another corner for the visitors which Magennis headed down before Nombe put behind for another corner which came in finding Trevitt who looked to everyone that he’d scored but Hakeem Odoffin put his body on the line to clear the Millers setting off on a counter with Nombe finding himself one-on-one with Grecians’ ‘keeper Joe Whitworth but the Millers player couldn’t get his shot away the ball being put behind for a corner. Powell’s set-piece found the head of Odoffin who put the ball over the crossbar. At the other end Jack McMillan put the ball wide from just outside the box before a Mallik Wilks shot for the hosts was blocked for a corner which saw a header from Nombe saved by Whitworth. In the final five minutes of the half Nombe had a shot blocked, McWilliams won a corner which fell to Kelly who shot wide before a James cross found Wilks who saw his shot saved. But as the board went up for an extra two minute another shot from Wilks could only be pushed away by Whitworth into the path of James who didn’t think twice before smashing the ball into the back of the net to send Rotherham in at the break one-up.Rotherham came out for the second-half with more confidence and a Joe Powell cross found Hakeem Odoffin at the back post but he put the ball out for a goal-kick before a corner a couple of minutes later came to nothing. A long throw from James caused problems in the City box before being hacked away followed by the visitors winning a free-kick in a good position. Ed Francis took the kick which Ed Turns sent goalwards seeing it get a big deflection on the way it found Alex Hartridge who turned to fire it past Dillon Phillips for the equaliser sending the five hundred visiting fans wild. On the hour mark the Millers probably should have gone back in front when a good header from Shaun McWilliams was scrambled off the line by Joel Colwill followed by a Reece James cross which found Mallik Wilks whose header was blocked then cleared. It was Wilks again minutes later who turned this way and that to get himself into the box bending an effort towards goal which Joe Whitworth did well to save before the ball fell to Pelly Mpanzu who cleared the goal with his shot putting the ball in the stands. Three changes for the visitors saw Ilmari Niskanen, Tony Yogane and Caleb Watts come on for Pat Jones, Demetri Mitchell and Ed Francis. A Ryan Trevitt cross found Hartridge whose shot was cleared by the Millers defence before Wilks won a free-kick not far from goal which Powell took sending it straight into the Exeter wall. A poor challenge on Nombe from Watts saw the City player booked with the resulting free-kick going behind for a corner which came out to Liam Kelly whose shot was blocked. With fifteen minutes to go Rotherham brought on Joshua Kayode, Shaun McWilliams going the other way with JJ getting his first touch a minute later from a Powell cross but he sent the ball wide. Another change for the visitors saw Joel Colwill make way for Jack Aitchison. A Yogane cross into the box saw Magennis climb highest and the ball flying behind for a goal-kick before Magennis went down the other end and put a Joe Rafferty shot behind for a corner which the hosts could do nothing with. Dillon Phillips had to be on his toes after a cross into the box from Hartridge found Yogane who shot at goal before a great run up pitch by James saw him send the ball for Powell whose shot was stopped by Whitworth. Louie Sibley came on for the final few minutes for the Millers with Joe Powell leaving the pitch, Sibley’s first action being to win a free-kick which Wilks took finding the head of Nombe with Whitworth coming off his line to collect and winning a free-kick too before a good shot from Kelly was well saved by the City shot-stopper leaving the game at one-one.A point in the bag but it felt like it really should have been more and we really, really need to start taking some of those chances we made in the second-half. The first half was a bit of a damp squib with neither team showing much class and huffing and puffing around the pitch. We need the three points on Tuesday night – but will we get them?
**Referee – Martin Coy**
**Attendance – 8,438 with 482 Grecians in the stands**