Fire alarm, Ollie Rathbone's new boots and revived Millers hope ... the story of Rotherham United 2 Coventry City 0

What, the after-match evacuation of AESSEAL New York Stadium?

No, we'll get to that later.

This was the 93rd minute and Ollie Rathbone was shaping to shoot. He made contact so hard, so cleanly that his right boot must have come close to combusting.

The ball scorched into the far corner of the Coventry City net and a stunning Rotherham United victory, after a thrilling second half bursting with opportunities at both ends, was sealed.

The midfielder was in a new pair of blue Adidas Copas, the first time he's worn them. It won't be the last

The Millers are down on players, they've been down on their luck, but they're certainly not down and out. They remained in the Championship drop zone after last night's special triumph but showed every sign that they're capable of leaving it.

"We were okay in the first half without the extra bit of quality you need in the final third," said manager Matt Taylor. "We just needed to improve the end output.

"We did that in the second half and created more chances than we ever have in 15 minutes of football. We were against a very good team who can create as well. I thought we deserved our win."

The opening period passed goallessly by without giving any indication of what was to come. Before the break, Viktor Johansson saved sharply from the Sky Blues' Ellis Simms, Fred Onyedinma should have buried a close-range header for Rotherham from Jordan Hugill's cross but didn't.

Then, in the 51st minute, the oldest player on the pitch, Lee Peltier, wandered forward to glance home Cafu's corner and ignite the contest and New York.

"You could sense it in the first half: we got in good areas of the pitch and it was a bit deflating when the cross didn't come off or there was no-one in the box," said Taylor.

"Goals change the way people feel. The biggest change is to the players on the pitch and the next biggest is to the 10,000 people in the stadium who are supporting you.

"From that point on, the amount of chances we created was incredible. Also, getting ahead forces the opposition to chase the game a little bit, something which then creates more attacking moments for yourself."

At the conclusion of a pulsating contest, the call suddenly came over the PA system for everyone to leave the ground. Most fans had already left but the media and a phalanx of support staff found themselves out on a walkway because a fire alarm in the East Stand had been activated.

"It was a strange course of events," grinned Taylor. "You know Rotherham United, nothing ever is straightforward!

Anyway, back to that second half …

Peltier was as durable at the back as he had been deadly in attack and led the Millers' resistance with arguably the best performance given by any player in a red-and-white shirt so far this season.

Johansson wasn't far behind him and the Swede's point-blank save from Simms' header was one that maybe no other Championship keeper would have been capable of pulling off.

Ben Sheaf was denied by more Viking excellence but then Rotherham stepped forward and never looked back.

Only a full-stretch Ben Wilson stop kept out Rathbone's low effort, only a post kept out Hugill's header after some mesmerising trickery and a cross from Dexter Lembikisa.

Christ Tiehi headed just wide, Onyedinma raced clear after being played in by Hugill but shot too close to Wilson, Rathbone pulled the trigger again, forcing the overworked Wilson into a flying stop.

Every time the Millers broke, they looked like scoring. It was breathless, it was beautiful.

"I thought the players grew and grew," said. Taylor. "We had to ride our luck at certain moments in terms of defensive aspects. The players put their bodies on the line.

"We had a threat even when we were defending deep, especially with Jordan's physicality up top and Fred's running power. We kept Fred high up the pitch and he gave us an outlet with his 'legs'.

Set up by Kelly's deft chest control following Seb Revan's cross, Rathbone scored and went off on a daft, stiff-legged 'old man' dance in front of a baying North Stand joyously finding new belief in their side.

By the end, it was 23 Coventry goal attempts to Rotherham's 20, yet the only stat that mattered was the 2-0 result as the Millers recorded their second win of the campaign and their first shut-out.

That riveting quarter of an hour of all-out attack, the best Taylor has seen his side play?

"Yeah, for that little spell, probably," the boss said. "The second goal came late. You always want a two-goal comfort blanket when you're playing as well as we did for that period. For Ollie to finish it off and for us to keep a clean sheet is really pleasing for the group."

The East Stand incident, meanwhile? It didn't amount to anything. Move along, folks, nothing to see here.

The real fire was the second-half one that Coventry couldn't extinguish.

Rotherham (4-3-3): Viktor Johansson 9; Dexter Lembikisa 8, Lee Peltier 9 (Hakeem Odoffin 77), Sean Morrison 8, Cohen Bramall 8; Cafu 8 (Sam Clucas 88), Christ Tiehi 8, Ollie Rathbone 9; Fred Onyedinma 8, Jordan Hugill 8 (Georgie Kelly 88), Arvin Appiah 5 (Seb Revan 60, 7). Subs not used: Dillon Phillips, Tom Eaves, Sam Nombe, Ciaran McGuckin.

Coventry (3-4-1-2): Ben Wilson 8; Luis Binks 6, Kyle McFadzean 6, Joel Latibeaudiere 6 (Callum O'Hare 76); Milan van Ewijk 6, Josh Eccles 7, Ben Sheaf 7, Jay Dasilva 7; Yasin Ayari 6 (Tatsuhiro Sakamoto 76); Matt Godden 5 (Haji Wright 65, 6), Ellis Simms 6. Subs not used: Brad Collins, Bobby Thomas, Liam Kitching, Jake Bidwell, Dermi Lusala, Justin Obikwu.

Goals: Peltier 51, Rathbone 90+3 (Rotherham).

Referee: Lewis Smith (Wigan).

Attendance: 10,553 (2,174).