Rotherham United 3 – Mullin (15, 18), Bradshaw (76)

Shrewsbury Town 3 – Davison (24), Ruffels (59), Boyle (67)

In a game that saw six goals, two red cards and a few peculiar decisions from the officials Rotherham United and Shrewsbury Town came away with a point apiece at the New York Stadium in the pouring rain this afternoon.

The Millers had the first chance of the game when a super pass from Aaron Nemane found Paul Mullin who found himself one-on-one with Shrews ‘keeper Will Brook whose outstretched leg stopped the ball finding the back of the net. Mullin found himself upfront again a couple of minutes later winning a corner which Jili Buyabu took and Will Boyle headed behind for another corner with Buyabu finding Denzel Hall whose shot was blocked then cleared. Town’s first shot came on seven minutes with Josh Davison sending the ball into the are for Kian McMahon-Brown who saw Millers’ ‘keeper Julian Eyestone equal to his shot. The visitors had another two attempts which saw George Lloyd head over the cross bar and then a Davison header was blocked. A Kian Spence foul brought a free-kick for Shrewsbury which Tom Sang put high and wide. From that resulting goal-kick that the ball over the top found the Mullin who saw Brook come off his line so the Millers forward lifted it over him finding the back of the net to put the Millers in front on the 2quarter of an hour mark. And just two minutes later they had doubled their lead when Nemane sent the ball into the area for Mullin to run onto and again put it into the back of the net. When it all looked like it was going so well for the men in red a foul by Spence on Will Gray saw referee James Oldham issue a straight red and the Millers were down to ten. Looking back on it Spence did have a high foot but didn’t appear to actually touch Gray who fell to the floor like he’d been shot. The free-kick flew into the box finding the head of Davison who brought off a great save from Eyestone. But two minutes later a Shrews corner saw the ball in the box which Davison pounced on sending the ball into the net to make it two-one. On twenty-seven minutes the Millers brought on Brandon Cover to strengthen the defence with Jili Buyabu being the sacrificial lamb. Nice work from Josh Austerfield he find Mullin in the box with Will Brooks getting to the ball to put it behind for a corner which came to nothing. Cover sent the ball for Austerfield who was just outside the box the Millers midfielder’s shot going past the upright before Mullin and Nemane worked together well again the former seeing his shot put behind by Sam Stubbs the resulting corner seeing Hall climb highest before heading the ball out. Austerfield and Nemane were the next Millers to combine with Nemane putting the ball into the Millers fans behind the goal from outside the box. Cover did well down the other end to block a Gray shot for a corner before a clash of heads between Dominic Iorfa and George Lloyd with the Shrewsbury man being stretchered off with applause from all four stands in the stadium while Michael Golding came on to replace him. The delay brought around eighteen minutes of time added on and saw Eyestone save from Stubbs and then from Kian McMahon-Brown. Iorfa, who had come back on the pitch after the earlier incident, went down again and had to be helped from the pitch with Sonny Aljofree coming on in his place.

There were no more changes at the start of the second half with the visitors settling into it better with the extra man. A cross from Tom Sang found Will Boyle whose header went wide before a Josh Davison header minutes later followed the same pattern. McMahon-Brown and Jude-Boyd worked well with the Shrews right-back seeing his shot blocked before he won it back and crossed into the box finding Josh Ruffels who headed into the net from close range to equalise. Another attempt from Ruffels went over the crossbar which was followed by two changes for the Millers with Paul Mullin and Aaron Nemane making way for Tom Bradshaw and new signing Brandon Williams. On sixty-seven minutes the visitors won a corner which Davison put wide before another cross into the box came off the head of Davison finding Boyle who stuck the ball home from close range to give Shrewsbury the lead. But the Millers found a new lease of life when a long throw from Williams fell for Kieran Ngwenya who sent the ball in with the visiting defence jostling it away. With fifteen minutes to go the Millers went forward again with Bradshaw winning a free-kick which Jayce Fitzgerald sent into the box finding Bradshaw whose header got the better of ‘keeper Will Brook as it flew into the back of the net to make it three-three. There were free-kicks for both sides before Joe Rafferty and Kian McMahon-Brown which saw the Shrewsbury striker send the Millers captain to the floor and Mr Oldham showing his second red of the game – the Shrews third in three games – leaving it at ten players each for the final seven minutes plus time added on. A cross from Sang found Boyle who put his header wide before a quick break saw a shot from Michael Golding go just over the corner of the net. Four minutes into time added on Denzel Hall went into the book for a foul on Gray.

An entertaining game in the wet and windy weather at the New York Stadium. I suppose another that it could be said, ‘shoulda, woulda, coulda’ but a fair result in the end.

Attendance – 7,562 with 697 Shrews fans making the journey

Referee – James Oldham