Offside claims, penalty controversy and the "moments of madness" ... the story of Rotherham United 1 Doncaster Rovers 2
HE sank to his haunches and beat the ground in despair.
Cameron Dawson knew full well the magnitude of the error that he'd just made.
So did his manager, so did his teammates, so did the Rotherham United crowd.
Instead of making a routine clearance from a hefty boot upfield with a hefty boot upfield himself, the goalkeeper had allowed himself to be mugged outside his area by Doncaster Rovers' Luke Molyneux who guided a derby winner into an empty net in front of a joyous away end.
The relegation-haunted Millers had upped their recent standards in the first half to lead 1-0. Both opposition goals had strong whiffs of offside about then. A Rovers player didn't see red when he gave away a penalty when he was the last man. At least two other possible spot-kicks weren't awarded.
Yet, at the end of hostilities, only the scoreline counted and it didn't favour the side stuck in 23rd spot in League One.
“It's hard for any Rotherham fan going home today,” said manager Matt Hamshaw, under fire from supporters and acknowledging that his fate was in the hands of chairman Tony Stewart.
“It'll be hard for me going home, because it was a game that, first half, I thoroughly thought we were going to win.
“To come out for the second half and for two moments of madness to kill us, it's really tough to take.”
Yes, there had been another moment …
Twelve minutes before Dawson's 68th-minute blunder, captain Joe Rafferty had been left tackling only the fresh February air as he mistimed his run and lunge at Glenn Middleton, allowing the wide man to skip down the left flank and set up fellow half-time substitute Brandon Hanlan to steer in an equaliser.
A contest Rotherham needed to win - and could have won - turned on those mistakes.
Up to the interval, they'd produced one of their best 45-spells of the season. Duncan Watmore was weaving magic and clever patterns up front, Josh Benson found himself on the new boy's wavelength and throughout the side there was the heart and hard running that had been missing in losses to Cardiff City and Burton Albion.
The Millers were awarded a penalty after only 23 seconds and Sam Nombe converted it two minutes and 13 seconds later following some drawn-out, lace-tying gamesmanship from keeper Thimothee Lo-Tutala and referee Simon Mather's decision not to send off Jay McGrath for his tug on Watmore's shoulder.
As Rotherham raised their game, so their followers raised the volume. This was how we all want New York to be.
Watmore sprang himself clear only for the ref's failure to play advantage to snuff out the danger, Benson surprised Lo-Tutala with the whip on a free-kick and the save was an unconvincing, nervy one, Watmore and Benson might have been given further penalties but weren't.
And, then, it changed …
The captain erred, the keeper followed suit, and Rovers, who had been improved by a triple change at the break, never looked like giving up their advantage once it had been gifted to them.
”I think you saw confidence drain out of the players a little bit, if I'm going to be honest,” Hamshaw said. “The early goal obviously settled us. We got on the front foot, we played some good football.
“We made a change at half-time and put Ar'Jany (Martha) on. We didn't get that flow and consistency that we had in the first half. We've made two big mistakes and been punished. At any level of football, you can't do that.”
Whereas Doncaster's replacements made Rovers stronger, Rotherham's made the Millers weaker as Martha had no impact and Watmore and Benson - neither yet fully match-fit - wearily made their way back to the dugout.
”We've got young, inexperienced players coming on,” Hamshaw said. “I've got no Joe Powell and Dan Gore today. If Powell and Gore were in, Benson et cetera would come off the bench.
“We didn't have those options to come on in the middle of the field, and I felt that, towards the back half of the second half, that was where we lost the game a little bit - those battles that we were winning in the first half.
“We needed important players to be out there and we needed a bit of that experience. We'd got young players coming into a difficult environment. But we still have to show more than we did.”
It had been a lunch-time kick-off. By the evening, when Saturday's other fixtures had taken place, the gap to safety was up to five points.
Gone was a proud 41-year-old Rotherham record of not being beaten by Rovers on home soil - 13 wins and a draw - as the visitors did the double over their South Yorkshire rivals for the first time since 1950.
Dawson, to his credit, tried to apologise to supporters after the final whistle but was given short shrift by some of them.
Hamshaw, meanwhile, had to endure sack chants from Rovers fans and full-time boos from his own.
Later in the afternoon, as I made my way to the South car-park, the weather matched the New York mood with rain beating down: dark clouds overhead, darkening clouds in the fight against the drop.
Hamshaw, by coincidence, was just driving away on the start of that journey he wasn't looking forward to.
Forever a decent man, he gave me a strained thumbs-up as he passed and went on his way.
Hoping that no thumbs-down was coming from the chairman.
Rotherham (4-3-3): Cameron Dawson; Joe Rafferty (Brandon Cover 79), Emmanuel Adegboyega, Jamal Baptiste, Reece James (Lino Sousa 90+1); Shaun McWilliams (Ar'Jany Martha H-T), Josh Benson (Dru Yearwood 75), Kian Spence; Sam Nombe, Duncan Watmore (Gabriele Biancheri 75), Harry Gray. Subs not used: Ted Cann, Lenny Agbaire.
Doncaster (4-2-3-1): Thimothee Lo-Tutala; Jamie Sterry, Neill Byrne, Jay McGrath, Jack Senior; Owen Bailey, Robbie Gotts (George Broadbent 79); Luke Molyneux (Jordan Gibson 87), Elliot Lee (Harry Clifton H-T), Hakeeb Adelakun (Glenn Middleton H-T); Billy Sharp (Brandon Hanlan H-T). Subs not used: Jake Oram, Matty Pearson.
Goals: Nombe pen 3 (Rotherham); Hanlan 56, Molyneux (Rovers)
Referee: Simon Mather (Lancashire)
Attendance: 10,049 (2,270)