Miller's tale ends well for Town

Rotherham United 2-2 Northampton Town
League Two
Tuesday, November 23rd 2010

After the mauling of Underhill, the last place we wanted to find ourselves on a cold Tuesday night was Rotherham, a place where we had two players sent off last season and suffered a defeat that all but ended the slim playoff hopes of that particular term. Being two goals down inside the opening twenty minutes didn’t help either and you got the feeling that things were about to take another downward turn.

But Town decided that this was going to be another night to stun us when we felt at a low point of the season and with a sudden surge of energy scored twice in the space of three crazy minutes to completely turn the game around. First, Abdul Osman slotted home and then seemingly seconds later, Andy Holt netted for the first time this season with a fine finish to level the game and make both sets of fans scratch their heads as they tried to figure out what on earth was going on!

Leon McKenzie so nearly made it 3-2 a few minutes later as well and had that, or Craig King’s later opportunity, flew in then we could have completely wiped out the blues from Saturday afternoon. As it was though, both sides had to settle for a point and an even second half justified a score line that Sammo will be a lot happier with than his opposite number Ronnie Moore.

Going to Rotherham, particularly in their temporary home of the Don Valley Stadium (not a nice place to play football), is a tough ask at the best of times but with pressure building at the foot of the table it’s a big result to get a point having come from behind.

League Two is as tight as it comes at the moment and it’s not just manager speak that a couple of wins can get you shooting up the league. Indeed had we scored again last night we could be looking at being 20th or higher rather than lingering above the drop zone. So still no need to panic then and this determined display could be an excellent tonic to kick on once more.

There’s a bit of respite before the next league game with the FA Cup trip to Hillsbrough on Saturday afternoon providing a welcome distraction and a chance to have a go at a club steeped in tradition. If that trip to Yorkshire ends up anything like this one then we’ll be very happy indeed!