A game too far, penalty controversy and a packed away end ... the story of Stockport County 3 Rotherham United 1
THE loss, when it came, was met with exactly the same response as victory.
The tracksuited figure of Matt Hamshaw walked calmly to the other dugout and offered a dignified hand to his opposite number.
The Rotherham United boss had just suffered a first reverse after a trio of wins in his first three matches in charge.
There was no pride in defeat – the injury-hit, fixture-lagged Millers hadn't really played well enough for that – but neither was there any shame.
Opponents Stockport County are fourth in League One, Hamshaw's mid-table men are in transition and already looking towards a revival next season while trying to finish this one as well as they can.
Fans get it. They'd been staying away from games during a campaign to forget, now they formed a loud, loyal, sold-out, away following at Edgeley Park.
For much of the first half, they dared to dream of a fourth straight victory as their team led. The Millers weren't exactly dominating but they did have a measure of control.
However, it wasn't to be.
“Without going through too much technical and tactical detail, we knew that if we shifted the ball in the middle of the pitch we'd hurt them,” said Hamshaw, standing pitchside and dissecting events shortly after the final whistle.
“For the first 25 minutes, we did that, then we stopped doing it and slowed everything down.
“There's a difference between confidence and arrogance. I'm not saying we've got arrogant players, but we almost got to that point where we're thinking: ‘Actually, this is all right, I can have an extra touch.’
“I'd banged on about that for the last two days so it's frustrating.”
Rotherham swept in front in the ninth minute on Saturday as Cameron Humphreys fed Reece James on the left flank and a high, looping cross was expertly headed in by Mallik Wilks.
Joe Powell might have made is 2-0 with a crisp shot and Ibou Touray should have made it 1-1 with a header before the home side restored parity close to the break.
The visitors took a timeout in midfield and Jack Diamond was afforded time and space to apply a 10-carat finish from outside the penalty area.
As the hour mark approached, the scores were still level, but Stockport had taken a grip of the contest. The hulking figure of Brad Hills is difficult not to spot yet, somehow, the Millers managed to miss his run to the back post where he buried Jayden Fevrier's right-wing delivery.
Then, controversy: the game's big talking point in the 71st minute. Wilks appeared to be the victim of an inadvertent trip by Hills inside the box but nothing was given and County immediately broke at speed and killed the contest with Kyle Wootton's low shot.
An earlier Sam Nombe spot-kick appeal had gone unheeded but that wasn't the one concerning Hamshaw.
“I can't really remember it, to be honest,” the boss said. “The Mallik one stuck in my mind because it came at such a key point.
“I've just seen it back, I don't think that their player intentionally means to catch Mallik, but he does catch him. Even If he doesn't catch him, Mallik is still on his feet and either shooting or squaring the ball. That's the frustration.”
There was no way back for tired legs and minds after Rotherham's huge response to their new leader over the previous 12 days.
“I can't fault the effort, the desire, the commitment,” Hamshaw said. “There was always going to be one of these results – or a couple of them – before the end of the season.
“A lot of what you saw from Stockport stems from a good pre-season, a good recruitment strategy. It's confidence, it's backing results up. We just blew up a little bit on 60 minutes.
“The lads are running on empty. When it's like that, your thinking, your clarity of thought, dips. When you make silly mistakes against a side who are up there in this division, you're going to get punished.”
The Millers had looked neat and compact at the start of the match. In the second half, gaps appeared as the boss's limited options saw square pegs at odds with round holes.
He mentioned more than once the need for “structure”, he stressed that a true turnaround will require time.
The person to get least carried away by the Hamshaw Effect has been Hamshaw himself.
“He's one of our own,” supporters had chanted of the local lad when Rotherham were ahead and another triumph looked a genuine possibility.
Many stayed at the end to applaud the team: fans and players as one, a brighter feeling in the spring sunshine after a winter of discontent.
Disappointment on the day, real progress overall.
Stockport (4-1-3-2): Corey Addai; Brad Hills (Callum Connolly 80), Fraser Horsfall, Ethan Pye, Ibou Touray; Ollie Norwood; Jayden Fevrier (Will Collar 55), Owen Moxon (Odin Bailey 55), Jack Diamond; Tanto Olaofe (Jay Mingi 90+1), Kyle Wootton (Sam Cosgrove 90+1). Subs not used: Andrew Wogan, Micah Hamilton.
Rotherham (3-4-2-1): Cameron Dawson; Joe Rafferty, Hakeem Odoffin, Cameron Humphreys; Jack Holmes (Liam Kelly 63), Pelly Mpanzu, Joe Powell, Reece James; Louie Sibley (Jordan Hugill 63); Sam Nombe, Mallik Wilks (Josh Kayode 82). Subs not used: Dillon Phillips, Jake Hull, Hamish Douglas, Jonson Clarke-Harris.
Goals: Wilks 9 (Rotherham); Diamond 41, Hills 59, Wootton 72 (Stockport)
Referee: Lee Swabey (Devon)
Attendance: 10,390 (1,080)