'And in that moment something shifted' ... The David Rawson Rotherham United Fan Column

It was the bitter inevitability that made it so painful.

We’d worked so hard. Stuck determinedly to a structure that had almost totally blotted out the opposition. Missed a penalty and chance after chance.

We thoroughly deserved to win.

And yet.

An impetuous tackle for a ball not quite there to be won. Chesterfield’s first shot on target, the resulting penalty, emphatically thumped home. Somehow, it was 1-1.

Now we would collapse. It’s what we do. We doubt ourselves, lose our way, concede.

The stands fell quiet, remembering the days when we had a team that found a way to win these sorts of matches. We knew what was coming and we were sad, because this team is likeable in a way that we haven’t experienced in a while.

This team grafts. It carries itself with pride. No-one plays like they’re doing us a favour being here. No-one is playing for themselves above the team. It genuinely seems like everyone in the ground, players and supporters, want to be there.

For the first time in a long time, it really hurts when things go wrong.

And feels so good when things suddenly, unexpectedly, go right.

I suspect Paul Mullin is not yet fully match fit or, at least, match sharp. But he is so natural a finisher that there was no question of what would happen when he picked up the ball in the last minute and headed towards goal.

I can’t remember when I last celebrated a late winner, and certainly not one that I could enjoy five seconds before it happened. Because there was no doubt.

And in that moment something shifted. How deep the shift and how long it might last for isn’t yet clear, but I could be persuaded we might finally have stopped the rot.

It feels like people care. Not because there’s some story connecting them to the club that means they have some special feeling about it, but because they’re professionals for whom, right now, this is the best option they have.

And, yes, one or two look like they might be finding it a special place to be in its own right. And some look like they’ve got real potential to go far. There’ something of the Kari Arnason about Sonny Aljofree, for example.

Critically, they look like a team. And, more significantly, they’re beginning to look like our team.

In truth, that was true before Mullin went through on the Chesterfield keeper and slotted home.

But that moment made it feel real.

We needed it. The celebrations were more than just for a goal, more than just for a win.

They were a welcome home to a feeling that’s been missing for too long.

There’s been lots of talk describing a “Rotherham United performance” over the past few years.

This, finally, was one.