Injuries, injuries, injuries, application, endeavour and a refusal to yield ... the story of Luton Town 0 Rotherham United 0
SOME of it wasn't easy to look at. There was gnarled steel, some areas that definitely needed sprucing up, so many steps to climb. But, boy, there was noise and spirit and a sense of purpose to it all.
Are we talking about Luton Town's atmospheric eyesore of an old stadium, Kenilworth Road?
Not really, we're discussing the merits of an away-day Rotherham United team as Matt Hamshaw's reshaping of the club begins to take hold.
The Hatters, four wins out of four, with parachute money from their Premier League days, welcomed the Millers, unbeaten in their last six League One outings but diminished by their long, long injury list. Something had to give.
It didn't.
By the end, Rotherham's run stretched to seven
“Yeah, the injuries,” said manager Hamshaw, already without five centre-halves, star striker Sam Nombe and a clutch of other players before kick-off and then suffering three more casualties during the game.
“That's the frustration at the minute for myself, the staff and the fans. I'm sure that when they saw the team come out today, they thought: ‘Oh, no, not again.’
“But, look, we keep going, we keep striving. It's the Rotherham way. We give our all. The supporters really got behind the lads today. We've said all along that we can guarantee work ethic and winning duels. I think you saw that in bucketloads.
“To keep them to nil and for us to have, potentially, good scoring opportunities shows we're going in the right direction.”
The goalless draw lifted the Millers climb to 11th spot and the hosts to eighth. Maybe, just maybe, with more of their men available, Hamshaw's squad would be pushing for the play-offs.
That's some progress for a group that was next to bottom of the table six weeks ago.
Luton dominated possession yet not the contest. They passed and passed but without penetration as Rotherham defended with zeal and attacked quickly when the opportunity arose.
In the first half, Cameron Dawson didn't have a save to make, Jordan Hugill forced a good stop from Josh Keeley with an early header and Martin Sherif's goalbound shot was blocked by Kai Naismith.
Yet the biggest moment of the opening period involved the chance that never was as referee Craig Hicks stopped play and awarded a foul to the visitors for Mads Anderson's challenge on Sherif even though Shaun McWilliams was racing clear.
Hamshaw was madder than an Anderson: “I was very frustrated. Shaun was in on goal. We get told that the refs are going to try to play on a little bit longer.
“As soon as the whistle went, I thought that he was going to send off their player because Martin had been the last man. Look, you sometimes get them, you sometimes don't. I think that it would have kicked us on a little bit.”
After the interval, Town pressed and probed but rarely opened up the Millers and Dawson remained relatively untested. Through it all, the defence never buckled and two small midfield competitors stood tall.
“Dan Gore and Kian Spence were outstanding,” Hamshaw said. “I thought that the back three were as well. Hamish Douglas was excellent again. He was up against quality players in Jerry Yates and Nahki Wells, and then Luton brought on two more in Jacob Brown and Millenic Alli.
“You can pick players out, but I just thought that as a collective they all represented the club.”
After his players had denied Luton space all afternoon, the tables were turned on Hamshaw who had to conduct his media duties in a room so cramped that the door was closed with a member of the club's press team still outside.
“We looked defensively ‘set’,” the boss said. “I can't really remember there being much trouble on our goal, and that's credit to the lads. Some of the quality from us at times was really good and we just didn't have that final pass.”
Rotherham held one of the division's best teams with no senior centre-backs and, after the break, an untried kid making his league bow up front on his own following the injury-enforced withdrawals of Hugill and Sherif.
“I thought that, first half, we had an attacking threat,“ Hamshaw said. “This isn't any disrespect to Josh Ayres ... but when you lose your strikers, it's hard to get up the pitch against an unbelievable squad.”
The manager has much he still wants to do, and will remain hamstrung - no pun intended - by injuries for a while yet, but he has already delivered on his main pledge of restoring the Millers' DNA.
Thunderstruck by AC/DC boomed over the PA system. It seemed appropriate.
“It was a really good away performance,“ Hamshaw said. “We want to be more on the front foot attacking-wise, I can't stand here and say otherwise. But I think that the defensive set-up, the organisation and the will to fight for the badge and for each other is fantastic.”
In Luton's house of gnarled steel, the heavy metal of the Millers had prevailed.
Luton (4-2-3-1): Josh Keeley; Isaiah Jones, Teden Mengi, Mads Anderson, Kai Naismith; Lamine Fanne (Jacob Brown 78), Liam Walsh; Jake Richards (Gideon Kodua H-T), Nahki Wells (Zack Nelson 62), Cohen Bramall (Millenic Alli 78); Jerry Yates. Subs not used: James Shea, Hakeem Odoffin, Nigel Lonwijk.
Rotherham (3-1-4-2): Cameron Dawson; Joe Rafferty, Hamish Douglas, Reece James; Dan Gore; Denzel Hall, Shaun McWilliams (Dru Yearwood 85), Kian Spence, Joe Powell; Jordan Hugill (Josh Benson 45+3), Martin Sherif (Josh Ayres H-T, Liam Kelly 90). Subs not used: Ted Cann, Harrison Duncan, Jack Holmes.
Referee: Craig Hicks (Surrey)
Attendance: 11,091