Here's to a better 2025 ... the story of Rotherham United 1 Stockport County 1

It was the 19th minute at AESSEAL New York Stadium and Hakeem Odoffin's equaliser for Rotherham United had just been shown on the big screen.

Stockport County's players had already made their feelings plain, now their mass following was doing the same and calling for Odoffin's effort to be ruled out.

'Offside. Offside. Offside.'

The goal stood and the Millers, in need of a result after defeats in their opening two Christmas fixtures, were on their way to a point that would move them up a place in the League One table to 17th.

Crucially, they were behind for only six minutes. New York is an edgy place these days and unrest was given no time to fester after proceedings had begun badly for Steve Evans' men.

County arrived in S60 yesterday in the midst of the play-off reckoning and a major factor in their elevated status has been the presence of a young Aston Villa loanee.

All twinkling feet and cut-inside menace, Louie Barry is the division's leading scorer and he'd already skipped in from the left flank to test Dillon Phillips before goal number 15 arrived.

Two things you can't give him are time and space and the Millers afforded him both as he beautifully picked his spot from a range of more than 20 yards.

"He's the one player in the division who can caress a ball and put it in the corner like that," said manager Evans. "It was a great finish.

"Stockport are a good side, the best we’ve played since Birmingham City. They started better than us and gave us problems for 15 minutes while we were still sorting ourselves out. We looked for a reaction and got one."

It was a first half packed with incident.

At one end, Odoffin restored parity when a mishit volley by Liam Kelly bounced up for him to nod the ball beyond visiting goalkeeper Ben Hinchliffe.

At the other end, Phillips survived when his clattering challenge on clean-through Tanto Olaofe was deemed a fair one while Barry hit the deck and called in vain for a penalty.

Between both ends, Kyle Wootton cut down Joe Rafferty and was lucky to receive only a stern talking-to rather than the second yellow card his industrial intervention deserved.

Stockport continued to be roared on by their supporters whose fervour contrasted with the detached feeling in the other three stands in the final match of 2024.

The year hasn't been kind to the Millers and spirits have sagged to their lowest level since the club left Don Valley in 2012 to make New York its home.

Empty seats abounded and the crowd was nowhere near the official 10,000-plus figure as season tickets went unused.

Evans, after spells of 4-3-1-2, 4-3-3 and 4-2-1-3 earlier in the campaign, had loaded his side with attacking players in a 4-4-2 formation only to see his team fail to trouble County after the interval.

The boss said: "Our chief exec said to me when he saw the team: 'You're trying every option!' We are until we get to the transfer window. We've been lacking goals."

Rotherham were short on danger, not endeavour. They didn't threaten again until stoppage time, when Shaun McWilliams was foiled by a block and Jonson's Clark-Harris's spot-kick appeal fell on deaf ears, but solid, determined defending restricted Stockport to a Barry snap-shot saved by Phillips and a Wotton lob lofted wide.

“If there was a disappointing aspect for us it was that we didn’t create in the final third," Evans said. "Credit to our back five, I thought they stood up and did their job.

"One of the things I said to the players at the end was: 'If we get that same effort and resolve and get some quality around it, that will be a good formula.'"

The final whistle drew neither cheers or boos in an apathetic conclusion to a 12 months no-one wants to endure again. New York is not the place it used to be.

A draw wasn't everything but, after successive losses, it was something.

"We've gone toe to toe with a team who will be up there at the end of the season," Evans said. "It's got to be a stepping stone for us."

It was right that Odoffin's goal was allowed to count, by the way. TV replays proved that conclusively.

Now, in the new year, the Millers have to do more to get fans as onside as their scorer was.

Rotherham (4-4-2): Dillon Phillips; Joe Rafferty, Hakeem Odoffin, Zak Jules, Reece James; Sam Nombe (Jack Holmes 84), Liam Kelly, Joe Powell, Joe Hungbo (Andre Green 61); Mallik Wilks (Shaun McWilliams 79), Jonson Clarke-Harris. Subs not used: Cameron Dawson, Alex MacDonald, Jamie McCart, Jordan Hugill.

Stockport (3-4-3): Ben Hinchliffe; Callum Connolly, Fraser Horsfall (Sam Hughes, 71), Ethan Pye; Kyle Knoyle (Macauley Southam-Hales 71), Ollie Norwood, Odin Bailey, Ibou Touray; Tanto Olaofe (Jack Diamond H-T), Kyle Wootton, Louie Barry (Will Collar 71). Subs not used: Corey Addai, Jay Mingi, Ryan Rydel.

Goals: Odoffin 19 (Rotherham); Barry 13 (Stockport)

Referee: Leigh Doughty (Blackpool)

Attendance: 10,194 (2,068)